A Regular Militia
by NatOreN
Summary: A young Gallian Regular is reassigned to the Militia for insubordination, but suspicions soon surface about the real reason for his transfer.
1. Prolouge: A meeting with the General

The halls were unusually silent this time, as if the whole building's personnel had known he was coming. The only sound was that of his boots hitting the floor with each step. He couldn't help but wonder what the commanders wanted with him today.

_Must be the general's usual speech about Regular superiority and all that mumbo-jumbo. _He thought. "Wonder what he'll have for me this time..."

He pondered the general's motives for the summoning until he stopped in front of his door. He took a deep breath, stretched his neck and brushed his uniform before turning the knob.

The room beyond was filled with trophies, medals and mounted animal heads. It had a couple of chairs located on each side of a small table, which stood few feet in front of a fireplace.

"Private Christian Raves reporting, sir," he saluted the general, who stood next to the fireplace and sipped from a glass of wine while running his eyes over a sheet of paper in his hand.

"Yes, yes. It's about time," the general grumbled and emptied his glass. "But, thankfully, it'll be the last."

"Pardon, sir?" Christian asked, curious of the general's words for the first time.

"Ever since you joined the Regulars, although tolerable, you've been a nuisance. But these past few days you've been completely out of control!" The general replied. "You disobey your orders, show no respect to superiors and in no way behave like a proper soldier!" The general marched in circles in front of the fire while flailing his arms, as if to emphasize his message as usual. Christian always did consider it a little overdramatic. "But now..." he chuckled. "Now it ends. I have here in my hand the details of transfer for you. You've been reassigned."

The burly general handed the paper over to Christian with a grin, who took it and quickly read its content. _Notice of transfer... yaddayadda... Private Raves... yapyapyap... the Militia... wait, Militia?_

"The Militia, sir?"

"That's right, my boy! You have been reassigned to the Militia," the general let out a slight chuckle and turned his back on the soldier. "Unruly peasants are what they are… and I'm sure you'll fit right in."

_The Militia__...__ It figures..._ Christian mumbled in his breath. "Very well, sir. I'll pack my bags and move out later this evening."

"Don't forget to hand in your uniform! Can't have you prancing around in that among such rabble... and, hopefully, this'll be the last time we meet."

"Of course, general." Christian forced a straight face and bowed.


	2. Chapter 1: Introductions

Welkin ran his eyes across the report in his hands as he strolled through the corridor. He'd gone over it once already, but he wanted to make sure he got everything right before presenting it to the captain. He tried to watch his surroundings as best he could, but he was finding it difficult to read and walk at the same time. So far he had bumped into one secretary, two soldiers and a wall.

_"I guess Faldio was right when he said I shouldn't read while walking..." _He thought as he took a quick break from the reading. _"Well, the captain's office is just around the corner. I should be in the clear."_

Welkin had barely finished thinking when he crossed the corner and crashed right into someone as he was about to go for the door. There was a loud thud as Welkin and the other person fell on their backs, along with some cursing from the stranger.

"Son of a-! Watch where you're going, will ya?" A young man with short, auburn hair lay in front of Welkin and was rubbing the back of his head.

"Ah, sorry about that." Welkin apologized to the man and helped him on his feet. "I tend to get lost in thought."

"What does it matter to me? Just try not to hit me again, okay?" The man replied with a blank face. "And, if you don't mind, I've got business to do."

"Oh, sure. I don't mean to keep you."

"Thank you." The man bowed slightly then proceeded to enter the captain's office.

"Wait, you've got business with Captain Varrot?"

The man said nothing, but walked further inside and saluted the captain.

"Ah, Lieutenant Gunther. Good timing." Varrot gestured to Welkin to come closer. "I assume you're here with the report on Vasel?"

"Oh. Yes, ma'am. I've got it right here." Welkin handed over the report he'd been reviewing earlier.

"Very good." Varrot placed Welkin's report to the side of her desk and turned back to the two men before her. "Now, onto the real matter here. Lieutenant, this is Private Raves, he's been transferred here from the Regulars."

"A pleasure." Christian bowed.

"The report I recieved from his superiors is quite a handful. Disrespectful, questioning or not following orders, improper behavior, you name it. To sum it all up, the higher-ups have had enough of his attitude and sent him here."

"I see. But what does this have to do with me?" Welkin asked with a puzzled look.

"Isn't it obvious, Lieutenant? I've decided to place him under your command." The captain answered and leaned back in her chair. "From now on, Private Raves is a member of Squad 7. Here's his profile. I'm sure you can handle him."

"Yes, ma'am!" Welkin took the folder containing Raves' profile and saluted.

"Very well. Dismissed!"

_________

After a quick change of clothes, Christian made his way to the training field, where the lieutenant had asked to see him. Fort Amatriain was a fairly large place and bustling with activity, but it wasn't long until Christian reached his destination.

"Ah, you're here!" Welkin greeted the new squad member. "I'm sure you're wondering why I called you here. The answer is simple, I want you to get familiar with the squad. Or, well, not me personally. I've got too much to do."

"Well, then who will?"

"One of my subordinates. He should be here any minute now."

"Yo, bossman! You needed me?" A large man called out and waved. He had dark brown hair, a beard going down the sides of his jaw, ending on either side of his chin, and a distinct scar across his nose. "Came as soon as I could. What's up?"

"Ah, Largo!" Welkin greeted the man cheerfully, then turned back to Christian. "Largo, this is Christian. He just joined our squad."

"A rookie, eh?" Largo pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it, taking a deep breath as he did. "Name's Largo. Largo Potter."

"Christian Raves." Christian said in kind and shook the man's extended hand, which had a strong grip.

"Anyway, Largo, I need you to help Christian get familiar with the squad."

"What? So I'm a babysitter now? No offense there, Chris."

"None taken..."

"No, no, no. That's not it." Welkin replied and nervously scratched the back of his head. "It's just that I'm a bit busy right now, and you've been around longer than I have."

Largo let out a loud sigh and took another smoke. "Alright then. I'll show 'im around." He quickly finished the rest of his cigarette and threw it away. "Ok, kid! Let's go introduce you to the gang!" Christian nearly lost his balance when Largo hit him on the back before dragging him into the training field.

______

"All right, let's who we can find here." Largo's stride turned to a halt by the firing range and he took a quick pause to overlook the nearby soldiers. "Ah! Over there we have Hannes Salinger, shocktrooper." He said and pointed at a stout man with long, black hair by the firing range. "You can always count on him in the field."

"Hmm, let's see... And over there is Jane Turner, also shocktrooper." Largo gestured at a pale, brown-haired woman by the gun racks. "Used to be a florist. Don't let it fool you, though. She's like a mad dog out there."

"Oh, and then we have Aika Thompson and Vyse Inglebard, scout and shocktrooper respectively." Largo continued and pointed at a redheaded girl with pigtails sparring with a darkhaired boy, who had a transparent eyepatch over his right eye. "Very reliable, both of them, although Vyse might drag you into unwanted situations."

Largo took another look around the area and scratched his head. "Well, seems there are no more around here. The rest is probably at the mess hall or the barracks. Follow me."

At the mess hall, Largo identified a few more of his squad mates.

"The goof over there is Ted Ustinov, scout." He said and pointed at a spiky-haired boy. The boy was talking to a woman with black hair, which covered her left eye. The woman seemed to be ignoring him, but the boy kept talking. "And the woman he's trying to talk to is Marina Wulfstan, one of our snipers. Not much of a social person."

Largo sighed and shook his head while mumbling something in his breath. "Anyway, next there's Freesia York, scout. She's quite a good dancer, but no less a soldier." He continued and pointed out a tanned girl with dark-brown hair. "And finally, there's Wendy Cheslock." He gestured at a woman with brown hair, hidden under a white cap. "She's the closest thing we've got to an explosives expert. I suggest you keep your distance at a ten feet minimum."

"That's all?" Christian asked after being silent the whole time.

"No, there's plenty more. But it's getting a little late. I think you'd better find your room before lights out." Largo grinned and placed his hand on Christian's shoulder. "Come on, kid. Time to get ready for bed!"

"Hey! I'm not a damn ki-yaaah!" Christian was unable to finish his reply as Largo yanked him towards the door and dragged him outside.


	3. Chapter 2: Morning with the Militia

Christian struggled to open his eyes as he rose from his bed, but the eyelids were incredibly heavy. He had barely slept for so much as a wink. It was a fairly common thing for him, but this time it had been unusually difficult to fall asleep, mostly due to Ted, who Christian just happened to share a room with, along with others. But he had been so full of questions that night, Christian was close to tearing his own ears off.

_*******************_

_"Hey, I've never seen you here before." Ted said as he studied Christian intently. "You new?"_

_Christian merely nodded slightly in response. He hated when others, strangers especially, asked him questions, but he'd never been able to avoid answering if asked. Therefore he always tried to keep his responds as short as possible._

_"Sooo... Do I get a name?" Ted continued. "Everyone has to answer some questions after joining this squad."_

_Christian looked at the spiky-haired teenager with minor annoyance._

_"Well, not exactly, but I love getting to know people. It helps me with my material. You're a lot like Marina with that look, by the way." Ted insisted. "So, how about that name then?"_

_"Christian..." Christian finally sighed as he climbed into his bunk, which was on top. Everyone else did the same, including Ted, but the questions continued nonetheless._

_"Where you from? Any relatives? How old are you? Favorite food?" Ted zipped through the words like a bullet. It was a wonder he didn't shred up his tounge in the process._

_"Hey, hey! Slow down, Ted!" A gruff man, lying in the lower bunk on the opposite side of the room, spoke up. He had a strong yet kind look on his face. His skin was tanned and, like most of the squad members Christian had met so far, he had dark-brown hair. "If you keep talking like that, our new friend here'll end up dead before sunrise." He chuckled._

_"Oops. Guess I got a little carried away there." Ted's face started to turn red, but he managed to shake it off before long._

_"I'm Hector Calvey, by the way." The man introduced himself, looking at Christian._

_"Well, Christian, mind telling us where you're from?" Ted cut back in._

_"... Vasel."_

_"Vasel?" A timid-looking man interjected. His skin and hair color was similar to Hector's, but his body looked significantly weaker, his hair was rather short and he had a pair of circular glasses resting on his nose. "I hope you're feeling alright?"_

_"Umm... Yeah..." Christian gave the man a puzzled look. "Why wouldn't I be?"_

_"Well, it must have been hard losing you're hometown, right?" The man replied._

_"... It's just a town."_

_"Just a town?" The man seemed slightly shocked. "What about your family? And friends?"_

_Christian remained unaffected by the question. "... What friends?"_

_"Whoah! You don't have friends!?" Ted suddenly jumped in, wide-eyed. "What about your family then? You must have been worried about them, right?"_

_"... No... We were safe in Randgriz long before the Imps arrived."_

_Every answer he gave only seemed to raise new questions. The pointless chatter continued for what felt like an eternity and Christian was bombarded with questions as well as the other men's backstories, which he couldn't care less about. He learned that Ted loved making people laugh, Hector dreamed of starting a shipping company and that the third guy, whose name was Karl Landzaat, was fighting for a better future for his lover, but that was all he dared say, thankfully._

_*******************_

_"Ugh... what a lousy night..." _Christian thought to himself as he struggled to get into his uniform. Ted, Hector and Karl were already up and away, so Christian was alone in the room. Everything was silent, except for the rumbling in his stomach, which was getting louder. _"Alright, alright! I'll get something to eat..." _He finally finished dressing and immediately left the room, walking quickly towards the front door of the barracks.

With a quick turn of the knob, he flung the door open only to be met with a force on the opposite side. Christian pulled the door back and moved further outside.

"Ow, ow, ow." Opposite to him stood a girl around his age and was covering her nose with her hands. She had black hair and a red bandana around her forehead. In the back she had two, small bag-like wrappings around small portions of her hair. Her uniform number marked her as a member of squad 7.

"... You alright?" Christian asked bluntly.

The girl looked up, showing a pair of grey eyes. "Y-yeah... I'm ok." She replied and wiped small specks of tears from each eye with one hand, still covering her nose with the other. "Is it bleeding?" She proceeded to ask and uncovered her nose.

"Hmm... Only a little." Christian reached for his pocket, pulled out a handkerchief and offered it to the girl. "Sorry about that."

"It's alright." The girl accepted the handkerchief and started wiping away the small amounts of blood that were running down her upper lip. "I've had it worse..."

"Anyway, I should be getting to the mess hall. I'm in serious need of some breakfast."

"Oh? I'm heading there too!" The girl finished wiping her lip and nose and handed Christian back his handkerchief. "Mind if I accompany you? I'm not comfortable alone."

"Ehm, sure, whatever." Christian blushed a little, not really used to the company of women. "I don't mind."

The girl giggled and walked with Christian off to the mess hall. "I'm Claudia. Claudia Mann."

"Christian Raves."

_________

At the mess hall, the area got fairly crowded. Most of the base's occupants were seated by the breakfast tables, sharing loud laughs, silent whispers and occasional pats on the back in between mouthfuls of juicy fruit and fresh baked bread.

Christian and Claudia made their way to the counter and picked up a tray each. Not wasting any time, Christian gathered two pieces of bread and a small bowl of oatmeal on his tray, along with a glass of water. Spotting a nice, empty table near a corner, he quickly made his way there and sat down. Christian was just about to take a bite from his bread when he noticed Claudia sitting down on the other side of the table.

"You're sitting with me?" Christian tried to come off as polite as possible, but he was slightly frustrated for not being able to sit alone.

"Oh? Well, y-yeah. I'm not being a bother, am I?" Claudia responded a bit timidly.

"What? N-no, not at all!" Christian felt his face getting a little warmer. "I'm just used to sitting alone and... such." He quickly explained with a nervous smile.

"Sorry if I'm making you feel uncomfortable."

"It's alright." Christian finally took a bite out of his bread. "Why do you find it so hard being alone anyway?"

"I... I don't really want to talk about it." Claudia responded and looked down on her plate.

Christian shrugged at the reply and continued with his breakfast.

"You're... not going to ask why?" Claudia seemed somewhat puzzled by Christian's response, as if she was expecting something else.

"No. If you don't want to talk about it, then it's none of my business."

"Oh... Ok..." Claudia responded lowly and turned to her own meal.

The table was quiet for a while until, as both were finishing their meals, Largo entered the hall and announced that Squad 7 should assemble in the recreation room.

"The recreation room? What, we're going to play cards or something?" Christian asked with a confused look.

"Oh! No, no, no. Don't worry." Claudia giggled. "It's probably another assignment. The lieutenant just likes to be a bit... informal."

"Oh... I see... Well, we'd better get over there then, shouldn't we?" Christian replied and picked up his tray.

"Yeah. We probably should." Claudia agreed and did the same.


	4. Chapter 3: Into the Woods

In the recreation room, all sounds were drowned out by chatter and laughter. Not much different from the mess hall, save for the smaller space. Christian quickly recognized Ted, Hector, Karl and most of the other members he'd seen the day before.

Among the most notable members already present, there was a girl with gray hair, which was tied into a pair of pigtails with blue ribbons. She seemed to be having an argument with another woman, a redhead with her hair tied up into buns, while she held a curly-haired boy under her arm, sometimes delivering a punch to the top of his head.

"Don't act like you don't know it, Rosie!" The gray-haired girl said angrily. "We both know I can best you at anything! Just you wait and see!"

"Hah! That would be the day!" The woman adressed as Rosie replied. "The way you screamed at Vasel doesn't help your case."

"You did freak out a little during that mission, miss Edy." The boy under the girl's arm spoke up. "For a minute I thought y-" *WHACK*

"Shut it, Homer!" Edy responded with a swift hit to the top of his head. "I did not freak out! I was practicing my vocal chords, that's all!"

Close by the argument was a young, dark-haired girl trying to tame the quarrel between the two. She wore the distinct markings of the Darcsen on her cloth, which covered her shoulders and most of her upper body. By her side stood a tall, brown-haired man and frantically called for the others to stop, in a surprisingly feminine voice and keeping his arms close to his chest.

Around the room were many other noticable characters. There was a blonde girl with a pink ribbon in her hair and a pair of boys who looked like twins and couldn't have been much older than 16. There was also a small girl, even younger than the twins, a rough-looking woman with brown hair and determination in her eyes and even a timid, tubby man with a bowlcut.

_"Wow... Quite a colorful bunch..." _Christian thought to himself as he looked across the room. He noticed as Claudia walked towards the little girl and another timid-looking with a similarily childish face, greeting them happily. _"Huh, guess it's just me then." _

Slowly, Christian snuck through the crowd and sat down in an empty chair by the far wall. He knew the militia wasn't as uptight as the Regulars, but he never expected such a diverse gathering of people. The fact that they were obviously a lot more social, too, didn't settle within him too well. He hated socializing.

The chatter was soon silenced by Largo's booming voice, who just entered the room along with Welkin and a girl with a red scarf in her brown hair.

"Alright, squad. We've got our next assignment." Welkin finally addressed the room. "There's an Imperial supply base within Kloden in the southeast, providing northern forces with ammunition and rations. Taking this base would severly reduce Imperial supplies to the north, hopefully giving us the edge we need to push them back." He stopped for a minute and looked over the crowd. "Intel on base defenses are limited but, for a major supply base, we should expect moderate-to-heavy resistance. As for preparations, I want everyone to get ready for thick forest combat. We move out in one hour. Any questions?" He finished and looked over the room once more.

There was a second of silence before someone at the back of the room spoke up. "We have a plan of attack yet, sir?" Christian's gaze moved towards Hannes, one of the shocktroopers from the training field the day before.

"No." Welkin replied calmly. "Before we gain the opportunity to observe the area ourselves, we have nothing specific to build on."

"What about additional support?" A dark-haired, gloomy-looking man asked and adjusted his glasses. "I don't suppose we're so lucky as to get a backup-squad?"

"Squad 1 will be accompanying us on this mission, providing additional troops and fire support if necessary."

"Bah, we don't need them!" Vyse suddenly spoke up from the middle of the room. "There's no challenge in that! We should just handle this by ourselves, test the limits!"

"Oh, don't be an idiot, Vyse!" A woman with short, blonde hair and glasses retorted. "What if they call in reinforcements? You're just going to take them all on by yourself?"

"Ah, I like the way you think, Juno!"

"What? I didn't... you... Argh! How can you be so ignorant!?"

"Hey! Does this really matter?" One of the twins, one with an X-shaped scar on his forehead, spoke. "As long as we get to kill some imps, I don't care how we do it!"

"How can you say that!?" The blonde with the pink hair-ribbon responded in shock. "What if they've got friends or... or family?"

"Please... They're Imps! They don't have any!"

The room was quickly engulfed in chaotic arguing, with a large majority of soldiers throwing insults and spiteful replies at each other. Welkin tried to calm down the fighting, but didn't seem very focused on doing so. Almost as if he wanted the crew to vent.

It wasn't until one of the snipers, a gray-haired young man, slammed one of the women, a Darcsen, against the wall that the fighting died down. Everyone turned and stared as the man kept her pinned against the wall, with a hateful glare in his eyes. Hector and Largo quickly grabbed him and dragged away from the girl.

"Let me go! The bitch needs to get what she deserves!" He growled and struggled to break free, but to no avail.

"Not so tough now, huh, Cezary?" Hector scoffed at the man with disgust.

"Shut up, Hector! You'll get yours eventually!"

"You should really learn when to keep quiet!" Largo said and smacked the back of Cezary's head.

"All right, just calm down, everyone!" Welkin finally commanded, his voice slightly irritated. "Cezary, 12 hours in isolation for hostile actions!"

"Right, pretty boy. Off we go." Largo mocked and dragged Cezary outside with Hector's help.

"You okay there, Nadine?" An elderly Darcsen scout asked the woman. The young Darcsen girl from before, the one with the cloth, also approached to see if she was alright.

"Yeah... I'm fine, Wavy." Nadine replied and rubbed the back of her head.

Rosie suddenly left the room in a huff, but not before displaying obvious feelings of disgust. Welkin gave a short sigh and rubbed his forehead before turning his attention back towards the squad. "Do any of you have anything they wish to get off their chests? If not, then I ask that you get ready." With that, he left as well.

"You heard the lieutenant, everybody." The girl with the red scarf spoke. "Get yourselves ready and we'll meet up by the courtyard in an hour."

* * *

At the training field, Christian had decided to do a little target practice to pass the time. It hadn't taken him long to get his gear ready for the mission, and he lacked something else to do.

With a firm grip, he aimed his machine gun down the range. One short burst, then two, a third and a single long burst, emptying the clip. This continued for a while, three short burst, followed by a long burst of what ever number of bullets remained. Sometimes it was one, single bullet hail until the clip ran dry.

Christian payed little attention to his surroundings, until someone spoke up from few feets behind his back.

"Easy there, Chris. Shooting the target apart won't make it any less dead than it already is, you know!" It was Ted, throwing one of his random jokes.

"... What is it Ted?" Christian relaxed his aim and rested the gun on his right shoulder.

"Eh, just wanted to talk for a bit."

Christian let out a low sigh and prepared to resume his practice. "I'm not interested in chatting..."

"Oh, puuuhleeease." Ted mockingly replied. "Like we don't have one Marina enough already!"

Pretending not to hear, Christian took aim and fired several short bursts.

"You know, I saw you hanging out with Claudia in the mess hall this morning." Ted persisted. "Anything special going on there?"

"... What makes you think so?" Christian asked without taking his eyes off the target.

"Oh, you know. First day as the new guy and you're already hanging with the unfortunate, cute girl."

"... I just happened to bump into her on my way to get some breakfast, and she decided to hang around a bit longer... Nothing special about that."

"Suuuure, there isn't!" Ted joked sarcastically.

"... So, what if there IS something going on? What business is it of yours?" Christian replied with growing annoyance. "I sure as hell wouldn't tell you anything, or anyone else for that matter... Now, leave me alone. I'm trying to practice..."

"Ho, chill out, Mr. Grumpy." Ted retorted, but Christian ignored him. "Alright, I get it. I'll leave you to your target-killing. Have fun." Ted began to walk off, but after few steps he turned around. "By the way, we're heading out in 15 minutes. Just so you know."

Christian sighed and emptied his current clip, then headed off the range. Making a quick stop at his room, he picked up the rest of his gear and ammo reserves and ran for the courtyard.

* * *

At the courtyard, most of the squad was already gathered, with the exception of Welkin, the girl with the scarf and a few others. And, of course, Cezary. Most were just talking, some even playfully fighting each other. Few more gradually joined the gathering, bringing with them more chatter.

Eventually, a large tank rolled into place next to the squad. It wasn't like any standard army models Christian had ever seen, but it looked familiar somehow. From the top hatch, Welkin emerged and gave the order to move out, and the squad quickly organized into transports before heading out the main gate.

Seated at the back of one of the transport trucks, Christian felt awfully bored. A common feeling. The roads, lined with trees, passed quickly as the drive continued and watching them slide by was pretty much the only way of passing time.

"Say, I don't believe I've seen you around before." A blonde kid sitting in front of Christian spoke up. He had an orange lock of hair by the left side of his forehead and looked curiously at the new shocktrooper in front of him. "You new or something?"

"... Yeah." Christian responded with his usual unenthusiastic tone.

"Cool. Nice to meet ya!" He continued and extended his right hand. "I'm Alex Raymond, shocktrooper."

Christian shook the guy's hand. "Christian Raves... Shocktrooper as well."

"Neat! I guess we might end up kicking some mean ass together, then, eh?" Alex cheered.

"Maybe..."

"I'm curious, aside from the obvious military classes in school, do you happen to have any combat experience?"

"... Well... No, not exactly." Christian managed to respond, somewhat liking the aspect of combat-related conversations. "I didn't get to see much action in the Regulars... Sure, I got to have some fun, but I'm rather glad it wasn't more than that..."

"Oooh, you were in the Regulars? What's it like?"

"... Ridiculous... The whole damn Command is littered with utter morons and simple-minded fools with no strategic sense whatsoever!" Christian started wringing his gun. "What I wouldn't give to see them trying out their own plans in person..."

"Really? That bad, huh?"

"... Worse."

Alex let out a low laugh, shaking his head in the process. "Say, you know Vyse? That guy is amazing! He doesn't flinch under fire and just keeps going, no matter how bad things can be."

"Yeah... the Sergeant mentioned him yesterday."

"... Which one? Alicia or Largo?"

"... Largo, of course. Who's Alicia?" Christian asked curiously.

"Oh, I hear she's a former watch-captain from Bruhl. Always wears a red scarf in her hair, can't miss her." Alex answered. "You seem like a cool guy. You should come hang out with us some time. We could kick some serious ass, you, me, Vyse, Aika, Hector! We'd be one tough group!"

"Eh... I'll think about it... Never know."

"Sure."

Time passed slowly, but steadily, as the convoy moved ever closer to Kloden. Aside from the constant rumbling of engines and individual conversations from time to time, the ride remained relatively quiet. Eventually, the trucks stopped by the edges of the forest.

_"Alright, squad!" _Welkin's voice sounded over the radio. _"We'll leave the trucks here and continue on foot. Rally on me and assume formation. Watch out for ambushes. Welkin out."_

From the wide country roads, the squad left the transports and entered the confined spaces of the woods. Old stories spoke of the Kloden forest as inaccessible to all but the forest's residents, but everyone knew those were just tales. Although, getting lost among the trees was anything but rare. Without proper guidance, the unfamiliar and repetitive landscape could easily confuse one's sense of direction.

Christian felt himself frowning slightly at the tight vegetation around him. Despite his preferred taste of small spaces, he hated when said spaces had no real limit, like a corner or a wall where he could safely rest his back, and the thought of countless possible hiding spots for enemies to lie in wait didn't help much either. But on the up side, this setup did provide him with numerous escape paths, should everything go to hell.

Occasional branches snapped as the squad continued to march through the forest. Everyone stayed silent, the only major sound being the tank's engine as it rolled along the forestfloor surrounded by soldiers. Welkin was not aboard, but next to it. Every now and then, he would check his compass and look over his map.

After about 2 hours of marching, Welkin gave the order to stop.

"Ok, team. We should be getting close to the supply base." He checked his map once more. "I want scouts monitoring the area and to keep me posted." He continued and started putting the scouts into small teams. "Wavy, you take Ted and Melville and scout out the northern area."

"Will do, sir!" The trio saluted and headed out.

"Southern area. Montley, Juno and Noce. Juno, you're leading." He continued and watched the three salute and head off as well. "And, finally. Susie, Freesia and Aika, you got the east. Aika, you're in charge."

"Yes, sir!" Aika responded and left with her group.

"Rest of you, establish a perimeter and wait for further instructions." Welkin finally ordered and returned to his map.

* * *

Located at the western area of the now-established perimeter, Christian sat against a tree and fiddled around with strands of grass. It was quiet. It felt hard to believe there had already been almost an hour since the scouts' deployment, and, as far as Christian knew, they had yet to report back.

Growing restless and bored, Christian merely sat there and stared at the ground. His lookout buddies weren't much livelier. First, there was Marina, the silent sniper, who had found a good spot in a nearby tree that gave her a decent view over the area, despite the density of the forest. There she had positioned herself on a large branch and peered into her scope regularly for any signs of Imperials.

Next, there was Nils, a gruff looking lancer with brown hair and slightly tanned skin, not much unlike Hector, except Nils looked a lot more menacing and his hair was shorter. The large man tilted up against a tree and sucked on a cigarette, looking into the distance.

The only one who looked like she actually wanted to interact with the others was Aisha, the little girl Christian had noticed at the briefing that morning and, apparently, one of Claudia's friends. Although she looked like wanting to talk with someone, she seemed to be intimidated by the silent trio she had ended up with.

Suddenly, there was a loud thud, followed by minor groaning, causing Christian to jolt his head to the left, where the sound originated. On the ground, about 3 feet away from him, Claudia lay face first on the grassy floor.

"... You okay, there?" Christian prepared to offer a hand, but Claudia quickly hoisted herself up.

"Yeah, yeah!... I'm okay!" She responded without pause and dusted the mud and grass off her uniform. "I just tripped... Thankfully."

"... Thankfully?" Christian asked, puzzled.

"Of course! It could have been much worse! Maybe I'd twisted my ankle or even been... um... shot..." She answered, looking more and more troubled by that last thought. "Oh, nevermind!" She quickly regained her composure and sat down.

"What are you doing here, anyway? Weren't you stationed by the northeast lookout?"

"Yeah, I was just checking up on Aisha, making sure she's doing okay. I mean, Marina and Nils aren't actually known for their social skills and Aisha loves talking with friends."

"Then what is she doing here? Shouldn't she be better off stationed with someone she knows?"

"I think it's more a matter of safety. I think she was placed back here to minimize danger." Claudia shrugged. "I don't think everyone trusts in her abilities yet. Some still just see her as a little kid."

"But... she is a kid. Shouldn't she be home, playing with her friends or going to school?"

"I know it doesn't seem right, but she received very high grades from her military classes. She volunteered on her own and was excempted from the 16-years rule because of her skills. They're calling her a prodigy."

"... How old is she, exactly?" Christian asked, bewildered.

"She's 12."

Christian couldn't believe his ears. _"12!? And she's already serving!?" _He thought and felt a hint of worthlessness crawling in his chest. "Ok, anyway, if you were just checking on her, shouldn't you be on your way back or something?"

"Oh, I just thought I'd check on you as well, since I'm here." Claudia seemed to blush a little, but it was very subtle. "You know, I never did thank you for lending me your handkerchief earlier. So, um... Thanks."

"... S-sure, you're welcome." Christian noticed some trembling in his shoulders, like he was cold, yet he wasn't. "It was n-nothing, really." He really wasn't used to talking with girls, not like that...

"Yeah. So, anyway, thanks again." She replied and scratched the back of her neck. "Well, I'd better get back to my post. I'll see you around."

"Of course, see you around!" Christian waved and watched as Claudia walked off. _"... Shit. I'm no good at this..."_

* * *

Welkin was in the process of figuring a plan of attack. The scouts had reported back about 40 minutes ago, and the squad had now moved closer to the base, which had been located about a half-hour walk to the northeast of their position. However, aside from the main road leading from the base, the scouts had been unable to locate a feasible path for an attack due to enemy patrols, which prevented them from getting much closer.

_"Hrm... The main road is sure to be well guarded... and all the other sides are covered by thick growth, making it hard to pass through..." _Welkin thought to himself and sighed. _"If I split the squad, the ones taking the flank might be delayed for too long... We might not last long enough for them to arrive..." _Pacing back and forth by the Edelweiss, he stuided the general area, hoping for a path to reveal itself.

Then, from the corner of his eye, he noticed something on the ground. _"Hmm... Maybe, if I'm lucky, there's a hidden animal path around here somewhere..." _He thought as he examined the objects closer.

"Alicia? Could you hold these for me?" He said and handed Alicia some of the objects.

"Huh? Sure." Alicia responded and examined them curiously. "Are these... some kind of nuts?"

"They're Longbeard Goat droppings, actually." Welkin replied.

"What!? Ew!" Alicia jolted back, dropping the excrement in her hands. "What's wrong with you, making me hold poo!?"

"I recommend lowering your voices, guys." Isara, Welkin's Darcsen sister and the tank's pilot, whispered and pointed at a patch of grass. "We're not alone here." The grass patch rustled. "I've seen movement there for a while now."

_"A spy?" _Alicia thought and moved in closer, pointing her gun at the patch. "Come out! I know you're there!"

The rustling continued, moving towards her. What emerged, however, was nothing close to a spy. A small, winged piglet came out of the grass. It looked around, observing the people around it curiously.

"Moink?" The piglet responded to Alicia's command with a look of confusion.

"It's a... a pig?" Alicia replied, no less confused than the pig, perhaps even more so.

"Oh, looks like a porcavian!" Welkin spoke up and knelt down next to it. Looking at the grass patch behind it, he suddenly appeared very enthusiastic. "Ah, look here!" He called, pointing at the patch.

"What is it, Welkin?"

"See this grass? It's trampled!" He exclaimed cheerfully. "It's an animal path, a natural road made by the creatures of the forest!"

"... And?" Alicia asked suspiciously.

"And... It just might lead to the supply base!" Welkin continued. "This might be our way in! But... oh..." He suddenly went silent as he noticed a dead porcavian further down the path. "That must be this little guy's mother... Looks like a stray bullet got her." He said, looking at the piglet.

"Aw, you poor guy..." Alicia picked up the piglet, caressing it. "So, you're all alone too, huh?"

"Well, does he want to come with us?" Welkin asked casually.

"What?" Alicia's eyes went wide with surprise. "Is that... is that really a good idea?"

"Sure! After all, this is the militia. Every Gallian is allowed to join!" Welkin grinned in response.

"Oh, wonderful!" Alicia responded, giving the piglet a big hug. "Hear that? You're going to be a part of the militia!"

"Moink!" The porcavian replied happily.

"But you need a name. What should I call you?" Alicia pondered for a moment. "Ah, yes! I'll call you Hans!"

Hans "moinked" again in agreement.

"Now then, we should get started." Welkin spoke up once more and prepared to ready his squad.


	5. Chapter 4: First Contact

**Well, it's taken me over a year, but I finally got the 4th chapter up. Apologies for the serious delay, it's been sitting on my computer half-finished the entire time and I simply could not get myself working on it. Had a severe writer's block and lack of will to get anything done.**

**But, now that it's up, I hope you'll enjoy it and tell me what you think. And I hope I'll be able to keep the updates more regular in the future.**

* * *

_"Finally... Might get some action out of this one after all," _Christian thought as he walked alongside the rumbling tank to his right. The other soldiers were silent, not wanting to draw any more attention to themselves than the engine already did. Sure, the road wasn't exactly the perfect hiding spot and they could easily be spotted from quite a distance as opposed to the forest itself, but that didn't stop them from trying. All were a little edgy, anyone could tell, and Christian didn't blame them, even though he did think of them as a little cowardly. However, he couldn't really deny the shaking in his feet, making him feel a little uncomfortable with the whole thing. _"But I just had to get the road..."_

_"Two thirds of our forces will follow me along the main road, while the rest takes the trail towards the enemy's flank," Welkin explained his plan to both squads. "Faldio and Alicia will lead the strike team."_

_ After the explanations, the team leaders started dividing the squads between the main force and the forest team. Paying little attention, as usual, Christian hoped to get assigned to the forest team, thinking it would prove more interesting. Plus, he didn't care much for head-on, frontal assaults. When his name finally came up, he didn't like it too well._

_"Christian, you're with us." Welkin stood over him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Since this is your first operation with the militia, I wish to see your skills firsthand. So, you'll be accompanying us on the main road."_

_ Christian sighed, disappointed with his station, but kept his mouth shut this time. He wished he could make his own choice, but at least he'd see some fighting, and that was good enough for now. But he'd be damned if he was going to stand at attention and blindly follow some random guy with a fancy title forever. That's what he hated the most, men who casually ordered others around, acting like they were a higher breed or something. Only time would tell if this new commander proved any different, but he didn't place much faith in it._

Putting his focus back to the matter at hand, Christian kept moving, keeping his eyes on the edges of the road ahead. If there were any Imperials about, he wanted to be the first to put a bullet through their head, or two.

Further down, the road started to curve. To the left, Christian could catch a glimpse of a waterbank. As they got closer, he could see a small lake among the trees on his left side.

Christian observed the area, tempted to lie down by the bank, but disregarded it. _"Now's not the time," _He thought to himself and scanned it for potential enemy positions instead. Suddenly, something caught his eye on the opposite bank, and out of impulse he called out, "GET DOWN!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, there was a loud bang. The Edelweiss and its surrounding units stopped dead in their tracks, the soldiers dropping to the ground almost immediately. There was another loud noise, as a projectile collided with a large tree on the left side of the road, toppling it.

One of the scouts soon managed to gather enough courage to take a look across the lake. His binoculars showed a small outpost on the opposite bank and rows of sandbags lined up around a heavy gun.

"Looks like we got us an anti-tank position, sir," the scout declared before ducking back down to avoid another shot.

"Dammit... And now we've got a tree in the way, as well," Welkin sighed from atop the tank, which had backed up to cover. "We'd be sitting ducks while trying to remove it... We'll have to hope that the strike team can take out that gun position or we might have to go without tank support..."

Christian cursed to himself, as yet another delay presented itself. He felt his hands starting to wring the body of his gun, aching to pull the trigger at an Imperial's head.

Forced to wait, he followed some of the other soldiers' initiative and found a spot to relax, but kept his guard up. Everything seemed so calm, despite the fact that they'd just avoided fire from a freaking cannon. It all felt uncomfortably familiar.

Few minutes later, Christian was quickly and violently returned to reality as an explosion echoed from across the lake. Frantically looking in every direction, Christian soon realized that there was nothing to worry about. The gunnery position on the opposite bank had, however, been destroyed along with the outpost and black smoke now rose towards the sky from where it once stood. By the outpost's remains stood a group of soldiers, dressed in Gallian blue, some of them waving.

_"Lieutenant Landzaat here. I hope that cannon didn't give you too much trouble," _a voice chuckled on the radio. _"I'd hate having to wait for you."_

"Ah, thanks Faldio! And everyone else, too," Welkin replied. "But keep your eyes peeled. They've surely seen the smoke and might send men to investigate. We'll do what we can to divert their attention here."

_"Oh, I'm sure we could handle it, but any assistance is appreaciated, of course. Faldio out."_

"All right, guys! The cannon's down and we need to get that tree out of the way so, engineers, get to it," Welkin ordered. "I want a team of soldiers to the front! Go on ahead and try to keep some fire off the others! Largo, you lead! Once the obstacle is cleared, we'll rendezvous on your position and launch the offensive!"

Largo quickly picked out a number of soldiers from the main unit, including a few familiar faces such as Alex and Hector. "Come on, kid! Let's see some of that attitude in action," he called towards Christian with a joking grin.

Responding with an irritated look, Christian grabbed his gun and dusted off a few strands of grass that had settled on his left armguard before joining the group.

"All right, guys," Largo called to his small band of soldiers. "Let's move out and pound some Imps!"

* * *

Heinrich took a quick moment to catch his breath as he stormed inside the office. He had been running back and forth for the past few minutes and was nearing exhaustion. Everything was in disarray since the first Gallian sighting, and he had received the dubious honor of being the runner. _"Hah... Hah... No way this is a proper task for a sniper," _he thought as he struggled to settle his heartbeat. He soon realized that he was being watched and quickly snapped to attention, saluting the general before him like a stiff mahogany board. "P-private 1st class, Heinrich Eckel, reporting! ... S-sir!"

"Calm down, boy," the officer replied, the grim look on his face solid as he looked up from his papers. "Speak when you're ready."

"Y-yes, sir," Heinrich relaxed a bit and took a few more seconds to restore himself before clearing his throat to speak. "We've lost contact with our outpost by the western lake. Shortly after their initial contact, the radio operator reports hearing what he believed to be gunshots in the background before the signal went dead. It is a high possibility that there is another Gallian force within the woods but, aside from their apparent attack on the outpost, there is little we can do to determine their location."

"I see," the officer stroked the bottom of his chin, making a slight rasping sound as his hand ran over the dark stubs that covered most of his jaw. "This a delicate situation. A frontal assault we could most likely handle, but if there's more of these Gallians in the woods... I fear, trying to prepare for multiple fronts, our men would be spread too thin."

"Then... What are your orders, sir?"

"... I see no other choice than to try and balance our forces to counter both threats. It's a risk, but if we concentrate all our forces at the main entrance, we endanger our flank if the second threat proves real, which it most likely is... And then we'll be done for, anyway," the officer took a moment to consider his thoughts more clearly, then continued. "We'll have to station most of our men by the entrance to the main road. The rest will have to split between our flanks and be ready for immediate relocating should the need arise... I just hope that our reinforcme-"

The officer was abrubtly cut off as another soldier slammed open the door. "General! The forward base is under attack!" The soldier waited a moment for a response, but the look in his superior's eyes told him all he needed. "The operator reported they had just entered combat with a small Gallian skirmish team that came up the road! At the time of contact, the lookout counted about three lancers, four light infantry and at least eight assault troops, but more may have been following!"

"A skirmish team! Didn't the outpost report a tank coming up the main road!" The officer responded, his face painted with anger and surprise.

"Y-yes, sir," the soldier answered nervously. "They did, sir! But there has been no sign of it since!"

The general appeared deep in thought. "This is certainly unexpected... It might be a lure... Or it might be that the enemy general is not as competent as I thought..." He paced around the room in a small circle. "This, however, may be an opportunity to strike back and minimize our losses."

"Your orders, sir?"

The officer stopped and took one last second to finalize his plan. "Find Lieutenant Nonnenkof and tell him to gather our best and head out immediately! Tell him to take the sidepath past the forward base, he may be able to take the enemy by surprise and flank them!"

"Yes, sir!" The soldier saluted and left the room in a hurry.

Heinrich remained, slightly confused by the decision. "Sir, what if the base has already fallen? Or if the enemy has received reinforcements by the time Nonnenkof arrives?"

"... That's a risk we'll have to take... We'll have to hope that Nonnenkof will be up to the task, and that he'll make the right decision. But, as for the base? ... It's expendable."

Those last words carried a hint of guilt as the officer spoke them. Heinrich knew the general to be kinder than most towards his men, but he didn't lack the backbone to do what was necessary. "What of me, sir? Do you have a particular task for me?"

"... I do, in fact." The general turned and looked at him with renewed vigor, although a feeling of hopelessness lingered in his eyes. "If Nonnenkof fails, it'll only be a matter of time before this base falls. Unless our reinforcements arrive in time, I doubt we'll be able to hold the Gallians back for long. I need your help to organize a defense on the hill just outside the base. It's the perfect vantage point to lay down suppressive fire on any Gallians who manage to breach the perimeter, but it works both ways should the Gallians happen to occupy it. Set up defensive lines as best you can along the route up the hill, as well as a last line of defense by the area that overlooks the base that can also serve to shower the Gallians with bullets, should they manage to get inside."

Heinrich hesitated for a moment, knowing full well that, should the Gallians breach the hill's defenses, he'd be as good as dead and even more so if they captured the base as well, seeing as the only clear path of retreat led back to it. "Yes, sir." He saluted reluctantly and left the room.

* * *

The smell of grass was long gone. Sounds of chirping birds and brushing leaves had also made way to their violent counterparts of combat. Instead of the grassy smell, the forest now smelled of gunpowder, the chirping birds had been replaced by shouting soldiers and the leaves outmatched by the now-dominant sound of gunshots.

The militia was spread amongst the trees that followed the main road and the few rocks that were large enough to provide cover. Their Imperial opponents were planted behind rows of sandbags and whatever natural cover was available within the base and its immediate surroundings. Despite their small garrison, the Imps were putting up an impressive fight, keeping the Gallians mostly pinned down and unable to advance, thanks in no small part to the light tank they kept on hand. So far, any attempts at dealing with this armored threat had proved ineffective, as the enemy infantry was proving a tough nut to crack and preventing the lancers from getting a clear shot.

Keeping his back as close to the tree as possible, Christian took a few quick breaths before slightly turning his body in order to get a couple of shots at an Imperial soldier hiding behind a decently sized rock, not far from his position. As expected, the Imp ducked just in time and avoided the bullets as he had done so many times before.

Christian cursed the Imperial as he turned back into his own cover. The fight was taking too long and he was running out of patience. "We're not making any progress here, dammit! How about a little change of plan rather than stand around and exchange shots!" He shouted through the bulletstorm. His hope was that Largo would come up with at least _something_ other than a frontal assault. Frontal assaults against a larger or a decently fortified enemy were doomed to fail, a fact Christian knew all too well.

"Relax, kid!" Largo shouted back, busy trying to get a good shot at the Imperial tank. "You start panicking, you'll end up dead in no time!"

"Relax! Are you nuts! We're under fire, unable to advance and without tank support!" Christian flinched as a bullet struck the side of the tree but quickly responded in kind with a few of his own.

"Cool down, will ya! We weren't supposed to be doin' any major pushin', anyway! Our orders were to go on ahead, divert their attention and maybe soften 'em up a bit! So, if you want progress, shoot some Imps and stop complainin'!"

Christian gritted his teeth as he grudgingly accepted the sergeant's reasoning, turning his attention back to the fight. Although his main worry was needless casualties, he figured it wouldn't be that much of a problem, the more he thought about it. They'd endured this far without them, so they most likely should be able to keep it that way. As long as the battlefield held no unpleasant surprises.

Just then, the tables were quickly and violently turned. A loud boom sounded across the battlefield as the Imperial tank exploded in an intense blast of searing flames, claiming the lives of some of the Imperials standing next to it as well. The defenders were thrown into a state of panic and scrambled chaotically to counter a handful of Gallian soldiers who appeared behind them, while still keeping the fire on the team coming up the road.

Bolstered by the sudden assistance, the Gallians cheered and confidently pressed the advantage, advancing with a steady pace towards the enemy base. The remaining Imperials fell one by one as their desperate defense crumbled on both sides. Eventually, they lost all hope, and the small number that yet lived threw down their weapons and reached for the sky in surrender.

Christian released a sigh of relief as he watched a few of the militia approach the surrendered soldiers. He felt his heartbeat slowly returning to normal, a slight tingle making its way up his spine and spreading through his body as the adrenaline rush passed and joy of victory replaced it. The ecstatic feeling of a defeated enemy settled nicely within him, something he hadn't experienced so much as once during his time with the army. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his forehead. As it passed his eyes, he noticed the red stain left by the blood Claudia had wiped off that morning. _"... Got to remember to get that cleaned, once we get back," _he thought, and placed it back in his pocket.

Of the Gallians that arrived earlier, Christian only recognized a few faces from his own squad. The others were all marked as squad 1, and all were men who looked like they had seen their fair share of combat, save for one snappy-looking fellow. He had his sleeves rolled up, the fabric stopping just below his elbows, and his hair was light-brown and short, most of it lying back or tucked behind his ears and sticking up in the back. He had a commanding look about him, but Christian couldn't help but think he was a little... Weird.

As the two groups started congratulating each other, Christian found himself moving away from the crowd. He didn't really like crowds, to be honest. Not the congratulating kind, anyway. Instead, he decided to check some of the bodies, see if any of the Imps happened to be carrying anything of interest. He didn't really consider it looting. They were dead, so what use would anything he took be to them? Besides, Imps were just as bad, if not worse, so he felt perfectly justified.

Rummaging through one of the Imp's belongings, Christian noticed some slight movement from the corner of his eye. One of the Imperials wasn't quite dead, but might as well have been. He was having trouble breathing, but made little to no sound, and his armor looked badly damaged.

„Please... Help me," the man half-whispered as Christian approached him. He had multiple pieces of shrapnel lodged in his left side and chest, most likely remains of the Imperial tank. He looked frightened, something Christian didn't quite expect from the enemy but couldn't help but enjoy witnessing.

„You don't deserve any help, Imperial..." Christian slowly reached for his pistol and watched as the soldier's eyes widened in terror. The man begged for his life, tears running down his face, but his pleas fell on deaf ears as Christian pointed the gun at his head. „One less Imp to worry about."


	6. Chapter 5: Getting Closer

**_Ok, 5th chapter. I originally planned it to be bigger, I wanted it to continue from where I left off in chapter 4 and all the way through the rest of Kloden, but I decided against it for the time being. I was getting anxious to finish it before I started mucking up the text as I usually do when a chapter drags on for too long. You should notice that the story starts to feel a little rushed by the end of this chapter, which is what I was worried about. Kloden will therefore continue into and, hopefully, come to a close in chapter 6.  
If it so happens that chapter 6 or a portion of it fits well within chapter 5, I'll consider combining the two. _**

**_Now, on to other matters. I focused a little more on building Christian's character in this chapter. I believe I've done a fairly good job, but it could always be better, I'm sure. I'd particularly appreciate any pointers if there's something I could improve in this area._**

**_Anyway, that should be all for now. Fingers crossed you'll enjoy this chapter._**

* * *

"Where did that come from!" Largo shouted to his troops, all of whom were ducked behind cover or otherwise keeping their head down. They'd all heard the gunshot and some looked around frantically, trying to locate the source. It didn't take long for all eyes to turn towards Christian, who was standing over an Imperial corpse, gun still in hand. "What the hell do you think you're doing, kid!"

"Just putting a wounded enemy out of his misery," was the reply. Largo felt a little unnerved by Christian's calm demeanor, it was as if the kid was silently chuckling to himself, and it certainly did nothing to remove the feeling of suspicion.

"Goddammit, boy! I don't know how you do things in the Regulars, but in this squad we do _not_ shoot the wounded on a whim!" Resisting the urge to give the kid a good thrashing, Largo resigned with a mere sigh and ordered him not to do it again or, Valkyrur help him, he'd get his ass court-martialed and beat him senseless for good measure. "I'll let you off the hook this time, but I will be reportin' this to the lieutenant. He can then decide whether you should be punished or not."

A rumbling engine caught the sergeant's attention before Christian could respond, though he had a feeling anything he'd say wouldn't make much of a difference.

"Ah, Welkin," Christian noticed the snappy-looking fellow from squad 1 waving at the approaching tank.

"Faldio," Welkin cheerfully greeted the man in return. "Where's Alicia and the others?"

"They're continuing towards the main base, I just figured I'd lend a hand here and check up with you on our coordination. You know, because of the delay."

Christian stopped listening at that point, as he heard the footsteps of someone approaching him. He wasn't quite ready for the pale face that greeted him, though, and so closely, too. He almost jumped as his eyes met the spine-chilling look of a dark-haired woman, who he soon identified as Jane, one of the shocktroopers.

"Ooh, that looks just lovely," the woman said with an eerie smile and took a closer look at the dead Imperial. For a moment, she examined the shrapnel in his side and chest, as well as the bullet hole on his forehead. On occasion she'd make comments on the injuries as well, how they looked and how much they must've tormented the man. It was like she was examining a painting or some other work of art instead of a body. "I'll bet the fucker was in great amount of pain. I certainly hope he was. I'm Jane, by the way. Don't believe we've met before."

Christian was almost afraid to shake the woman's hand out of fear she'd cut his off out of some sadistic impulse, a ridiculous thought he eventually dismissed. "I… I'm Christian."

"The new guy, right? I must admit, I expected you to be just another one of those whiny children the militia seems to have an abundance of. But this? This is beautiful. You're a natural."

"Uh… thanks," Christian wasn't really sure how to respond to that. Never mind he'd never been given a complement for killing someone before, he'd never been very good at receiving them either. Or thanking for them, for that matter.

"Don't mention it. Just keep gunning down those Imps and we'll get along fine," the look on Jane's face as she spoke was strangely unnerving. It was clear she wasn't just talking flattery, as far as Christian was concerned. He merely nodded in reply and shuffled his way back to the rest of the squad, relieved to be away from the woman, yet somewhat intrigued.

Christian was just in time, too. Welkin was just finishing a conversation with Largo, no doubt about the earlier incident, and aside from Faldio's unit, which was most likely on their way back to Alicia's, everyone was gathered around the tank for a briefing, some even resting on top of it.

"Alright, guys. I've finished going over the plan with Faldio, and it seems we'll be able to keep to the original for the most part. However… I've received a report of a sidepath just south of this base. Now, the path appears to be leading northeast, so there is a possibility it'll end near the main base. Therefore, I'll need a small team of volunteers to follow that path in case the Imperials try using it to flank us."

The crowd erupted in low chatter as the soldiers discussed amongst themselves if they should volunteer or stay with the main force. Vyse Inglebard was the first to jump at the opportunity, soon followed by Alex and Aika and a couple of members of squad 1, a scout and a sniper.

Christian, remembering his earlier conversation with Alex on the truck, figured this might be as good a time as any to take him up on the offer. Not that he thought he was lacking company, but rather he'd be better located, should things go wrong on the main road. Getting the constant engine noise out of his head was a pretty good bonus, too.

"I'll go," he announced, then quickly made himself as inconspicuous as he could, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention for whatever reasons. That put the team at 3 shocktroopers, two scouts and one sniper. Hector attempted to join his friends, but Welkin asked him not to, claiming the forest along the path was way too dense for a tank to get through and proceeded to compare the lancer to a pack mule should they be caught in a firefight. Though Christian understood the reasoning, and the comparison, he was baffled how well Hector took being compared to such an animal. Had it been directed at him, he probably would have punched the lieutenant right then and there.

"The path might be littered with landmines, though, so I'll need an engineer to go with them."

"Guess I'll go, then," one of the Darcsen spoke up. Christian recognized her as the woman from the recreation room earlier that day, the one Cezary had pinned against the wall. She looked a lot less delicate than she had before, had a more determined aura around her, almost like a mother protecting her children. Or how Christian imagined protective mothers looked like, anyway.

"Thank you, Nadine. Alright, let's move out and take that base!"

* * *

"_Hilltop… Come in, Hilltop," _Heinrich heard a voice crackle on the radio. His team was just finishing setting up a defensive perimeter at the top of the hill adjacent to the supply base, though Heinrich knew it couldn't be farther from the truth. The defense was undermanned, the Gallians were approaching, and they'd had little to no time to get a proper minefield up, only a few by the base of the hill. The only upside was that the hill had only one real pathway, so anticipating the enemy's angle of attack wasn't a critical issue.

"This is Hilltop. I read you."

"_This is lieutenant Nonnenkof. Have you finished setting up your defenses?"_

"As best we can, lieutenant. But I'm afraid it's nowhere near adequate to withstand a proper assault."

"_Don't worry about it," _the lieutenant's famous catchphrase sounded before a moment of silence. Heinrich was quite familiar with this habit of his. The lieutenant would tell someone not to worry and then turn silent as the grave for a minute or two. Why he did this, nobody had been able to figure out yet, but general consensus was that he was merely deep in thought. _"What's your setup?" _the radio crackled again.

"We… uh… There's about 5 of us nestled at the top, 3 around half-way up the path and another 5 at the bottom, along with about half a dozen landmines around the choke-point."

"_Alright, I want you to relocate the 5 at the bottom up the path with the other 3, have them hidden and prepared. Half of my men and I will take up positions by the dead tree and engage any advancing Gallians. If necessary, I will lure the enemy towards your position and we will draw them into an ambush."_

"Roger that, sir," Heinrich was about to break up communication when he suddenly remembered he had wanted to ask the lieutenant. "Um, sir? … What about the forward base?"

"… _I was too late... I wanted to assault them, especially after seeing what one of them did, but… I was too late… Nonnenkof out."_

* * *

_Another midsummer evening... It was hard resisting the urge to go outside and watch the sunset, even though Christian had already seen it hundreds of times. It was just one of those things you could marvel at for hours on end and never get tired of seeing. _

_The light covering everything in an orange hue, the contrast shadows, the armada of clouds in the sky. Sometimes it almost felt like a gateway to another world. And enhancing the experience was the smell. Christian was particularly fond of the smell of wet grass. It always filled him with a sense of calm and invigoration, like he could accomplish just about anything._

_This time, however, he had other things to do. He needed to pack his bags, for one, something he should have started last night at the latest. Enthusiastic as he was to head off for the academy tomorrow, he always seemed to lack all sense of priority. Maybe it was the location. His mother always said growing up in the outskirts of Vasel had made him much too carefree, on account of too much space or some nonsense. He never did believe any of it._

"_And so the young fool marches off to war," Christian heard the voice of his father coming from the doorway. He was a large man, a purebred farm boy who got swept up with the tides of EWI like so many others. Despite his hardened look, he didn't serve on the frontlines, but started off as an army mechanic before becoming a tank pilot in a small support unit. It didn't spare him from the horrors, though._

"_It's not war, father… It's just military training."_

"_Makes no difference. Before you know it, you'll be pissing your pants in a ditch with only a severed hand to hold while everything dies around you."_

_ His father wasn't much for pleasantries. He never tried to hide anything with reassuring words or pretty lies, just threw it right in your face. And, unlike some, he wasn't very proud of his only child signing up for the military academy, especially now with talk of war brewing between the Empire and the Federation yet again._

"_It can't be that bad."_

"… _Worse."_

* * *

"You okay?" Christian felt a slight nudge on his shoulder. It was Nadine.

"Yeah… Yeah, I'm fine," the answer came out rather sluggish, as if he couldn't quite realize where he was. Just in front of him were Alex and Vyse, with Aika and the squad 1 scout leading the way a good pace ahead of them and scouting for possible enemy positions, while he and Nadine brought up the rear with the sniper. Everyone was on edge.

Aika had spotted a set of fresh footprints shortly after they entered the path. They had clearly been left by Imperial soldiers that had been heading for the base the militia had just taken, undoubtedly to flank them, but had turned back instead. And now the possibility of those soldiers waiting in the forest gave the team reason for extra caution. Vyse was the only one not worried. In fact, he seemed to relish the idea of fighting his way out of an ambush.

"You looked a little phased-out back there. Sure you're okay?"

"I was just thinking, that's all… How far are we out?"

"It's been about… 20 minutes since detachment. I imagine we'll be nearing the supply base in about 10 more at this pace."

"Guys," Aika spoke up. In front of her the path was splitting in two directions, one leading further ahead, the other turning to the north. In the distance, Christian could just barely make out the outlines of buildings and a fence peaking through the trees between the two paths. "Which way do you think we should go? The footprints continue in both directions, so I'd imagine whatever force that was here must've split up."

"Were you able to determine their numbers?" Nadine asked.

"It's hard to say, but I think there should be about 20. Could be more. Looks like half of them took the north path, though."

"… We'd better call it in. They might still be trying to flank the main force," Christian was about to reach for his radio when it suddenly crackled and alerted of an incoming transmission.

"_Team 3, team 3! This is Largo with the main force," _the transmission was shaky and somewhat hard to make out. Rapid gunshots and explosions could be heard in the background._ "We've made contact with enemy troops on multiple sides! We are currently engaged with the Imps' main force but a small enemy unit is advancin' from the forest just south of our position! Can you assist, I repeat, can you assist?"_

"… That didn't sound good."

"We need to help them," Aika demanded.

"But what about that other path? What if those guys come back and flank _us_, too!"

"We can't just leave them!"

"And we can't just run off and get killed, either! You want to? Go ahead! But I'm not running off and leaving my back bare," Christian argued. He knew perfectly well that, in war, you had to work together, but he also knew that running off without a second thought was a surefire way to muck things up. Sometimes, hard decisions had to be made. "Besides, it's only one half of a 20 man unit, as you said. Unless they're some kind of super soldiers, I can't imagine them causing much trouble."

"Don't worry, I'll handle this," Vyse declared, a determined gleam in his eyes. Without another word, he readied his machinegun and dashed off along the northern path. Aika shot Christian a mean glare before running off after him.

"Should we go after them?" Alex and the scout from squad 1 looked questioningly at Christian. Although Alex liked the idea of running headlong into combat with Vyse, he couldn't ignore Christian's concerns. After all, someone had to make sure the rescuers didn't also need rescuing. The scout, a young man with brown hair, was just trying to figure out the chain of command. It seemed they forgot to establish one before heading out. Christian merely shook his head in refusal and pulled out his radio.

"This is Private Raves with team 3. Private Inglebard and Private Thompson are on their way to provide backup. Further reinforcements are unavailable due to hazardous circumstances."

"Guess it's just the three of us, then," Alex sighed with slight disappointment. He'd grown pretty close to Vyse and Aika during the past few weeks they'd served together and didn't like bailing out on them. But he was no general, and as much as he liked the thrill and excitement around those two, he still lacked the courage and impulse to act like them. "Are you absolutely certain we shouldn't assist them?"

"Trust me… I've got enough experience to know the dangers of rash decisions."

"What about you, Nadine? You don't have any thoughts on this?"

"I'm sorry, Alex, but I'm afraid I have to go with the new guy on this one. He does have a point and, although he is the rookie on the team, he does have more training than the rest of us, being a former Regular and all."

"If you're sure."

"I am."

Christian nodded at Nadine in approval, then ordered the scout to take point while he and Alex followed a few paces behind, with Nadine and the sniper bringing up the rear.

The 5 of them marched silently through the forest, which seemed to be getting thicker with each step. In the distance echoed the sounds of combat as Imperials exchanged gunshots and explosives with the militia forcing its way up the road. The team was even more alert now, with two of them missing, but there was still no sign of Imperials and the tracks were starting to feel like they went on forever.

Eventually they came across a large tree that had fallen on the road. Unlike the earlier incident with the cannon, this one appeared to have collapsed naturally, but it didn't make the area any less suspicious. Christian felt it was unusually quiet, for one, but he couldn't quite figure if it was something to worry about or just him. One thing he was sure about, however, was that the tree provided great cover and the tightening surroundings made it a perfect place for an –

"AMBUSH!" The words had barely left Alex's mouth when a group of Imperials appeared from behind the dead tree. The Gallians bolted for cover just before a hail of bullets launched in their direction. All but one.

"Ronald!" Christian heard the sniper call for his squad mate, who collapsed on the ground, clutching his chest. He quickly called for covering fire and motioned for Nadine to drag the scout to safety.

Pulling out a ragnaid capsule, Nadine began immediate work on mending the wounded man, repeatedly muttering under her breath for him to stay with them, but he had already lost a good amount of blood and was gasping heavily for air.

"How's he looking!" Christian shouted through the noise before firing a few shots at an enemy, who promptly fell backwards with blood spurting out of his neck.

"He's hit bad, I can't treat him properly out here! He needs a medic!"

"There's no way we're getting a medic here any time soon! Can you keep him steady until then?"

Nadine looked closely at the scout before shaking her head in resignation. "No, I can't!"

"Leave him, then," Christian ordered while taking potshots at the Imperials. He couldn't see it, but he knew the impact his order should have caused on his teammates. Not that he cared, though. He'd long since come to terms that soldiers died, no matter where or who they were.

Nadine felt a little stunned, but she shook off the feeling. She hated seeing others die, even more so if she could have helped them, but she understood the reason. All she could do now was to make sure the man didn't suffer too much, but all she had were her ragnaid capsules, which weren't effective enough. That left her sidearm as her only viable option. That, or let the man bleed out, but Nadine was finding it hard to do either.

Noticing her hesitation, Christian called to her to get it over with, but when the engineer proved still reluctant to proceed, Christian pulled out his own pistol and shot at the scout's head. Nadine was visibly mortified by the act and looked back at the shocktrooper in disbelief as he re-holstered his weapon and turned his attention back to the fight.

"It's done, so help us out here!"

Nadine didn't know whether to be relieved or angry. She'd avoided shooting the poor man, but Christian's blatant disregard for his life, void though it had been, really struck a nerve. Regardless, she quickly picked up her rifle and joined the skirmish.

The Imperials numbered about 10, as the Gallians had expected earlier. At least two of them were down already, and after Nadine joined in, 2 more fell in quick succession. It was then that the enemy commander ordered his troops to fall back, but the sniper took down one more before they were out of range.

"Come on! Don't let 'em get away!" The combat had really gotten Alex pumped and he was eager to pursue the routing enemy. Without waiting for an answer, he rushed after them, clearing the tree in almost a single leap.

"No! Alex, wait!" Nadine called after him, but he didn't hear her. "We have to stop him! There might still be landmines along the path, or another ambush!" Christian and Nadine immediately ran after him, while the sniper called in the casualty.

As the pair slowly caught up to Alex, Christian thought he caught a glimpse of something metallic on the ground, just up the hill they were approaching, and Alex was heading straight towards it.

"Alex! Look out!" Running as fast as he possibly could, Christian just barely caught up to him and without a moment's hesitation proceeded to tackle him into the ground. Looking up the path, his heart nearly jumped as he noticed a landmine sitting just a few feet ahead of them. Then, with a sigh of relief, he calmly pulled himself up before shooting Alex a nasty glare.

"Are you nuts! Two more steps and you'd have blown yourself to pieces! Did you even briefly consider the risks of running off like that!"

"I… I just... I'm not… Not quite sure what got into me…"

"For crying out- ! … This isn't a common thing among you militias, is it? Running blindly into Valkyrur knows what? 'Cause, top-rank order or no, I did NOT sign up at the academy to get killed with a bunch of reckless fools!" He might have been taking it a little too far, but Christian had little to no tolerance for irrationality, a result of various life lessons from his father, training and short military career.

"Reckless fools? … Is that all we are to you," a voice emerged from the bushes. The sniper's slim figure walked slowly towards them. His face, uniform and even his jet black hair was covered in blood.

"Who… Whose blood is that," Alex asked, slightly intimidated.

"Ronald's… Y'know, the "fool" you put down like a bleeding mutt," his gaze turned to Christian, who responded in kind.

"You'd rather he'd bled to death?"

"Of course not! I'm not some sadist asshole like you! You could at the very least have shown a little respect instead of just shooting him like a lame horse!"

"What'd you expect me to do? Hold him a funeral? We're in the middle of a fucking warzone!"

"That's not what I meant and you -!"

"What difference does it make? The guy was bleeding to death with no way to help him! He'd have spent his last shreds of life in pain! If anything, I did him a favor!"

"Is that what this is? You doing people a bunch of favors, like you did with the Imperial? Hm? I saw your face back there… You didn't care the slightest bit!"

"And so what? Why the hell should it matter to you! I -," before Christian could continue, the sniper's clenched fist hit him square in the face. Stumbling, Christian tried to restrain himself unsuccessfully and lunged at his attacker. As the two wrestled on the ground, he quickly managed to gain the upper hand, locking the sniper beneath him, and pulled a gun at his head.

"You think you're the first to lose someone in this war, hm? You think your friend was the first to die in such a way, so abruptly at the hands of someone who doesn't give a shit?" Christian growled while keeping his gun close to the man's head. "We're at war… It doesn't matter who they are or how they die... Nobody cares!"

Alex, who'd been unsuccessfully trying to separate the two while Nadine disarmed the mines, finally persuaded Christian to relax. Without another word, Christian put away his pistol and picked up his machinegun before walking off in the direction the Imperials were headed.

"The hell does he think he is! Heartless bastard," the sniper was about to run off after him for a second round, but Alex restrained him.

"Relax, man! Just let it go… At least for now."

"But… Dammit! … Ronald didn't deserve that… He was like a brother to me," the sniper sighed in resignation.

"I'm sure he was… And I'm sorry for your loss, erm… I don't believe I ever got your name?"

"… It's Philip."

"Right… Well, we better get going."

* * *

"Hilltop, this is Nonnenkof! We've made contact with an enemy unit heading your way! Come in, Hilltop!"

"_This is Hilltop. What's the skinny?"_

"Ambush was ineffective! We've got 5 friendly casualties and 1 hostile! We're falling back to the second line. We'll try and hold them off there, but these Gallians are stronger than I anticipated and morale is low."

"_Anything I can do to help, lieutenant?"_

"Negative! Stay where you are and assist the main base if needed, but be ready to evacuate if things go to hell!"

"_Roger that, sir. Hilltop out."_

After reaching their destination, the 5 Imperials quickly got into position behind whatever natural cover was available. Already there were the other 8 Nonnenkof had ordered to rendezvous and all were eager to take on the Gallians, although most of them had never seen actual combat yet.

Soon enough, Nonnenkof could make out Gallian blue emerging from the trees, but their numbers had increased, though not by much. Instead of the 4 his unit had fought earlier, there were now 9 hostiles advancing on his position.

While monitoring the Gallian's cautious approach, Nonnenkof's radio suddenly crackled. _"This is general Radi Jaeger to all units! We are evacuating the base! I repeat, we are evacuating the base! I ask that all defensive lines hold the Gallians back as long as possible while we secure the supplies, then fall back immediately!"_

"You hear that boys? Keep those Gallians occupied, then we'll be out of here in no time! For the Empire!"

"For the Empire," the group shouted in unison and turned their weapons on the advancing enemy.


	7. Chapter 6: Back to base

**I'm not very happy about this one. I really didn't know how else to handle the end of the mission and it feels rushed. Also, it's shorter than I would have wanted, but I suppose that's not really important, it's basically just filler, anyway.**

**But first, one more thing. I feel like I'm going a bit fast with character relations, so if anyone has anything to say about that, it'd be much appreciated.**

* * *

This time the Gallians were ready for the Imperials' surprise attack. With lightning reflexes they threw themselves behind the closest cover and returned fire. Not far from the skirmish the two sides clashed head on with each other just outside the supply base as Welkin's force came into contact with the base defense and its newly arrived reinforcements.

"This is Welkin speaking. Team 2, what's your situation?"

"_Sergeant Melchiott here,"_ the radio crackled in response._ "We've met some light resistance but we're approaching the base. ETA; 10 minutes."_

"Roger that. Keep it up, but be careful."

"_We will, Wel- … lieutenant. Melchiott out."_

"How about you, team 3? What's your status?"

"_Think we're almost there, but we've encountered some serious resistance. We're currently engaging an Imp ambush party and there might be more up top."_

"Acknowledged. Try what you can to push through, but get out of there if you have to."

"_Affirmative. Raves out,"_ Christian responded, a bit surprised. It was almost as if he couldn't understand the lieutenant's order. _"Get out of there?" _he thought, as if the words were some kind of foreign babble. He could hardly remember when he last heard that kind of order, if he ever did to begin with. _"… Bah, whatever. It means nothing…"_

"Fire in the hole," a Gallian shouted before tossing a grenade at the Imperials. The explosion put a dent in the enemy, sending 3 of them flying, but they still didn't budge.

"Alex! Vyse! Go to the right and try to get in close," Christian called to his comrades. "You… Hannes! You're with me!"

"Yes, sir," the man responded with the attitude of a typical military drone, the mindless feel of which Christian had come to loathe in recent months.

While Alex and Vyse half-crept, half blasted their way through on the right, Christian and Hannes made their way to the left in a similar fashion. The aim was to try and flank the Imperials, despite the limited space.

Noticing their maneuver, the enemy commander quickly order his men to spread out and expand the defensive line, but a quick grenade toss took care of that problem, reducing the enemy's numbers to about 7 in the process. And with the Gallians now in superior positions, the Imperial defense was crumbling fast as 2 more fell and another 2 when the commander ordered a retreat.

"Quickly! After them," Christian ordered. His temper was starting to flare up as the enemy made yet another retreat and he was both eager to finish them off as well as prevent them from setting up another ambush. "Don't give them a chance to regroup!"

* * *

At the top of the hill, Heinrich and his men were raining fire down upon the Gallians at the base. Heinrich wasn't sure of any casualties so far, but his sniper and their anti-tank gun were doing a good job of keeping the attackers at bay.

Suddenly, Heinrich heard his name called in the distance. Looking back, he could make out lieutenant Nonnenkof and 2 others sprinting up the path. They were constantly looking back and for a moment, he thought he could see blue figures further down.

"Heinrich! Everyone! We need to get out of here, now!"

"What! But what about the defense?" Heinrich objected.

"It's no use! The Gallians are coming, and unless you want to die on top of this hill, I recommend you get moving!"

"But the general still needs us!"

"There's no time! They'll be here any second!"

Just then, Christian emerged ahead of the unit along with a couple of the shocktroopers. Seeing the Imperials up ahead, they immediately opened fire, the ones behind them soon joining in.

"Go, go, GO! We'll try and hold 'em off for a bit," Nonnenkof motioned for the others to run, then turned his attention to the advancing enemy along with his remaining two men. The Gallians' advance was halted for a moment but quickly resumed.

After making sure Heinrich and the others were a safe distance away, Nonnenkof ordered his men to retreat and grabbed a grenade in order to blow up the anti-tank battery. But before he could arm it, he felt the painful sting of a bullet hitting his shoulder and dropped it.

"_Shit," _Nonnenkof scrambled to pick the grenade back up, but a second shot to his side convinced him otherwise. Instead, he clumsily ran off after his fellows, cursing to himself.

* * *

"The five of you, follow them! I'll see if we can't get this cannon firing," Christian motioned to his allies and approached the anti-tank placement.

"You sure you can work this thing?"

"Possibly. I remember a few lessons from the academy. Now, let's see… Trigger should be this thing over here… Aaand there's the aiming mechanism... Ok, help me turn it."

After turning and loading the cannon, Christian adjusted the aim so as to hit the enemy tank that was now in the middle of the base, its thundering main gun trading shots with the Edelweiss. Christian couldn't help but think they looked like the dragons of old legends, spitting fire and brimstone at each other's armored hulk of a body. "Alright… Fire!"

The shot went off with a loud boom, hitting the tank square in the side. Although quite damaged, the tank appeared to be fully functional still.

"Holy crap… That must be some impressive side armor he's packing… Reload and fire again!"

The second shot was slightly off, but it forced the tank to back up into better cover behind one of the warehouses, effectively eliminating the threat of the anti-tank battery.

"Guess we'll have to focus on the infantry instead… No, wait… They're pulling back?"

In the base below, the Imperial soldiers were abandoning their posts and heading for the back gate. The tank, previously thought to be backing into cover, was actually making its way out as well.

"… That's it? After all this trouble, they just up and leave?"

"Certainly didn't see that coming…"

"Well, whatever. Let's get down there. We might be able to catch some of them if we hurry."

By the time Christian and the others reached the base, the Imperials had already made it out of the base entirely, but a lone girl was about to rush after them when Welkin's voice called out.

"Alicia, no!"

The lieutenant looked even more serious than before the battle. In fact, Christian noticed he didn't look a thing like the fool he'd run into, outside the captain's office, the day before. He seemed completely polarized.

"What? Why?" The girl objected."We've got them on the run, we should be going after them!"

"No, it's too dangerous."

"What? Too dangerous? We've just spent the last, I don't know, hour and a half? Two hours, fighting these bastards, and now that they're on the run, suddenly it's become too dangerous," Christian interjected. He did it more out of impulse than reason, as he wasn't quite sure what to think at the moment. He wanted to keep the pressure on the Imps, but part of him knew Welkin was right, and their earlier troubles on the hill also helped reinforce that thought, and then again he couldn't help but object to the commander's reasoning solely on the fact that he was a commanding officer, none of which were to be trusted, in his experience.

"These Imperials… Their commander… He stayed one step ahead. To pull out like that, it's obvious this man knows what he's doing… Pursuing such a person can be extremely dangerous, and it's a risk I am not willing to take."

Christian couldn't really deny that argument and felt a little shamed for not taking it into consideration earlier. He was no tactical mastermind but he'd always taken pride in his ability to evaluate a battlefield relatively well.

"Anyway, our work here is done. Although the enemy got away with the supplies, we did our best, so it's time to head back."

* * *

"Don't beat yourself up about it, Heinrich," Nonnekof comforted the sniper beside him. The Imperials had been marching for some time now, and the battle was little more than a distant memory to most of them, but Heinrich insisted on dwelling on their failure to defend the base."So the base was lost, it's not such a big deal. I mean, yeah, there were casualties but we got the supplies out. And I always felt the location was horrid, anyway. It's about time we abandoned that shooting gallery."

"I know but… Wait, shooting gallery?"

"You know what I'm talking about. Multiple flanking routes, thick forest makes enemy movement harder to spot, below high ground. Not to mention we're supplying units on the other side of the country, from _outside_ friendly territory."

"You may have a point there…"

"Ah, never mind it. We got out alive and that's what counts."

"I suppose... What was it one of them did, anyway?"

"Hm?"

"The one you mentioned before. You said you were too late to reinforce the forward base but wanted to attack them anyway because of what one of them did. What was it?"

"Oh, right… Well… You remember the kid that came first out of the woods?... I saw him shoot one of our injured… The poor man couldn't possibly fight back… Yet he shot him, the bastard."

"I imagine the man was injured… You sure he didn't-?"

"Not a chance. I have no doubt about his intentions back then. I even saw him shoot his own ally in the forest, not a flicker of remorse in his eyes… Mark my words, that boy is a monster… And should you ever get the chance, don't hesitate to put a bullet right between his eyes!"

* * *

Back at Fort Amatriain, Christian found himself walking along the corridors of the officer barracks in an all too familiar fashion. But this time, there were no empty hallways and the echoing sounds of his boots. Instead, he found himself passing from one angry glare to another.

While the building wasn't exactly filled with people, the weight of all this unwanted attention was unbearable. Christian felt tempted to scream at the top of his lungs for everyone he met to mind their own business or suffer physical pain. But, thankfully, he managed to reach the lieutenant's office without any fuss and, surprising even himself, breathed a sigh of relief as he passed through the door, out of the frying pan and into the fire.

"You asked for me, lieutenant?" Christian gave Welkin a quick salute, anticipating the regular barrage of verbal abuse, threats and, ever the classic, "pigheaded, good-for-nothing peasant."

Welkin's response was a silent nod, his face oddly grim. Christian still didn't have a definite idea of his character, but somehow that particular look just didn't suit him. His face looked too gentle, too naïve for such an expression.

"I assume you know why," Welkin eventually asked.

"The wounded Imperial and the scout, I'm sure."

"Yes… Their 'executions', as it were. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't absolutely appalled by your actions... But I will not blindly judge you for such acts."

"You won't?"

"Believe what you will about the Regulars, but in _my_ squad we do things _my_ way, and I am yet to hear your side of the story, though I must express doubt that it will be something I haven't already heard."

"So, what have you heard?"

"Besides the obvious subject of this matter, it appears you claimed to be putting an end to both of the victims' sufferings, though both reports question your motives."

"Anything else?"

"Nothing I wish to reveal before hearing what you have to say."

"Very well. For one, I stand by my claims. The Imperial was heavily wounded and requested I end his suffering, which I did. As for the scout, the circumstances prevented a call for medical aid and Nadine said she could not keep him alive long enough, so I ordered her to leave him. She opted to ease his passing, but hesitated, so I took it upon myself, so she could aid the rest of us."

"I see," Welkin appeared deep in thought for a moment, and then continued. "While I don't approve of any sort of executions, I understand your reasoning. And I am actually grateful for what you did for Nadine. I know how she is. She tries her best to protect her teammates, and having to shoot one of them would devastate her, which is why I have chosen to acquit you of the scout's death, although hesitantly so. You're on very thin ice."

"And the Imperial?"

"I am afraid there is too much conflicting evidence to completely absolve you of that one. And, although you're free of the other accusation, there must be some punishment for your actions, be they justified or not. I, personally, would like to believe you did it out of the kindness of your heart, but I just can't."

"That's it?... Well, what's the punishment?"

"Since this is your first offense here, albeit a rather heinous one, and lack of evidence to prove you guilty without question, I think about 3 days in isolation should suffice."

"… _3 days? Is this guy for real?" _Christian couldn't help but release a small chuckle.

"I assure you, spending 72 hours locked in a small, empty room is not the most entertaining thought..."

"Indeed…"

"Anyway, we're done here. Largo will escort you to the detention area," Welkin gestured at the door. "He'll be waiting in the hallway… Dismissed."

Christian saluted and left the room with a big grin on his face. He'd never dreamed of getting off this easy. 3 days were nothing to him. Sure, he might get a little bored, but when hadn't he been? It was just a little R&R, basically, just without the beach. He hated the beach, anyway. Too much sand.

* * *

At the mess hall, everyone was talking about the latest thing. The space was crowded with militia members sharing truths, half-truths and outright lies about the new guy and his "murderous rampage". Most of what was talked about was the basics, the execution of both enemy and ally, coupled with the occasional arguments over the legitimacy of the various versions and opinions. There might even have been a conspiracy theory or two spreading around.

"You can't be serious," Claudia looked quizzically at Micah. The gloomy young man was a common guest at her table during dinner, but only if Dorothy was around, making everyone draw the conclusion that he had a thing for the timid redhead. Being the pessimist he was, he had been talking about how soldiers weren't just getting killed by the enemy now, but allies as well. Claudia had asked why, so Micah had told her how the new Regular transfer, Christian, had killed a fellow militiaman in the middle of a battle. "I don't believe you. He seemed like a nice guy."

"You've met him?" Dorothy asked, though she mostly kept to herself.

"I sorta… um… bumped into him yesterday, on my way here …"

"You mean you ran him over," Micah added.

"Well, no… I ran into the door as he came out… But he seemed like a nice guy, asked me if I was ok and lent me his handkerchief to stop the nosebleed…" By this point, Claudia was turning a very deep shade of red, as she realized just how mushy it felt talking about it. She didn't necessarily have a thing for the guy, but the way she talked about their brief meetings sure seemed to give off that vibe. "We also… had a little chat in the forest…"

"Claudia has a crush! Aisha can tell," Aisha, who was also sitting by the table, couldn't help but giggle, and only served to make Claudia blush even more. The whole thing was starting to feel like the beginning of a bad love story and Claudia found herself tucking her head further into her shirt.

"But I'm telling you, I'm sure he didn't do any of this. He just seemed too nice to do something like that."

"It was to be expected of a Regular. You know how they hate the militia… Besides, I hear he's already been put in isolation. He's obviously guilty."

"W-what?"

"Yup... Largo was seen leading him there a couple of hours ago."

"I… I'm not sure what to think… So, the whole thing this morning… You think it might have been just an act?"

"I certainly wouldn't put it past him. You can never trust these Regular types. Maybe he wanted someone to sympathize with him and get him off the hook," Micah shrugged and prepared to leave.

"No, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for this. I won't shrug him off as murderer just because you say so."

"I'm not the only one saying it, you know. Half the base is calling him a murderer."

"That still doesn't make it true. Until I hear it from him in person or can be sure of it beyond a shred of doubt, I won't believe he's guilty."

"Suit yourself, but you really need to be careful about who you trust. Betrayal can be a lot more painful if you're naïve."

* * *

By the time Christian woke up, it was already noon, or so he gathered from the light shining through the small window in his cell. Though he'd managed to get a decent sleep, his body felt sore all over from lying on the hard, wooden floor, and now he just lay on his back and focused on an empty spot in the ceiling.

He had been so confident the previous day about enduring the isolation, but he was already feeling irritated by the inactivity and silence. He'd figured there'd be at least the regular footsteps of guards patrolling the halls, but so far there'd been no sound at all, save for one incident where someone had stopped outside Christian's cell for a minute, only to make an angry "humph" before moving on.

"_This might take a while…"_

Christian had no idea how long he'd remained on the floor when he heard a sudden knock on the door.

"Hm?... Who's there?"

"… It's Claudia," her voice was slightly muffled by the door. "I just wanted to talk."

"Last I knew, isolation meant, well, isolation… But I suppose I won't turn down the company." Christian felt a bit more at ease talking to her through the door. At least he wouldn't have to look her in the eye. "Don't know what the lieutenant will say about it, though."

"Well, I got the permission from him, so… Anyway, I wanted to ask you… Is it true?"

"Is what true?"

"What people are saying you did… That you shot an ally?"

"… Depends on the context. What is it these people are saying?"

"I don't know any specifics. A friend of mine just said you shot another militia member."

"In that case, yes, I did, but he was as good as dead already. They both were."

"Both? You shot _two_!" Christian couldn't quite tell, but somehow he got the feeling she was close to crying. The tone of her voice sounded mixed with slight sobbing, but it was hard to tell through the door.

"The other was a wounded Imperial. He didn't have much longer either… not much else to it. But if you want, you can talk to Nadine about the militia member."

"Alright, but… If you did it out of mercy, why are you here?"

"Apparently there's some lingering doubt about my honesty in the matter."

"Surely, they must have their reasons."

"Besides being a Regular?" Christian sighed. He was well aware of the Regulars' reputation among the Militia; overconfident, patronizing and untrustworthy snobs. Even though most of it was true, it made him angry. They weren't all like that… or so it used to be, anyway. "I suppose you think I'm a liar, too, huh?"

"I… Of course not…" Claudia wasn't entirely truthful. She wanted to trust him, but Micah was right. She had to be careful, even if trusting him seemed harmless. No, especially then… At least, that's what Micah would most likely say.

"But you do, don't you? Why would you not? We've barely known each other for a day, yet you'd be willing to believe my word, a man being punished for murder, over your comrades', some of whom I imagine you've known for at least a few weeks? I appreciate the thought, but I'm not buying it."

"What? No, I -" Claudia was interrupted by a guard calling from down the hall, informing her that time was up. "I… I have to go…"

As Christian listened to her footsteps growing distant, he couldn't help but wonder what it was he hoped to gain from this girl. _"What the hell am I doing…? There isn't… something between us, is there? No, there mustn't be, it wouldn't be right… I couldn't possibly do that to her…"_ Christian quickly shrugged off the thought. _"I've got work to do… And I aim to see it through, without distractions…"_

Outside, Claudia was on her way back to the barracks when someone suddenly pulled her aside. In the empty space between a couple of cabins, she met the eyes of the man who grabbed her. His expression was grim, almost intimidating, and his towering figure was covered in oil stains from head to toe. On his shoulder Claudia noticed a patch marking him as a member of Squad 3. The man's menacing appearance made her want to run for her life, but as if sensing it, the man put a hand on her shoulder in a calming but slightly threatening manner.

"What did he say?" he asked in a deep yet, surprisingly, non-threatening tone.

"W-who?"

"You spoke with him, did you not? The Regular… What did he say?"

"I j-just asked him if it was true… A-about the murders."

"… And?"

"W-well, he didn't deny it."

"I see…" his voice became almost a snarl and his eyes distant. Claudia wondered if he had been a friend of the dead militia member, or a relative, which again made her worry if he was out for revenge. The man suddenly shifted his focus back to Claudia, inspecting her.

"What's your name?"

"C-Claudia."

"Claudia…" This time, the tone was more threatening. "You will not speak a word of this to anyone, especially your Regular friend… Understood?"

"Y-yes, sir," Claudia gulped. The man nodded, pleased, and retracted his hand before gesturing for her to leave. "You… You're not going to harm him, are you?" There was no response. Just a menacing glare and then he was off.


	8. Chapter 7: Heating up

**Well, chapter 7's finally here. Wanted to finish it earlier, around Christmas, perhaps, but I hit a wall and, as is common, I gave up for a while. It turned out nicely, but I feel I'm being too... poetic with some of the characters. I wanted to humanize Jane a bit but still retain her sadistic persona, for example, but I feel like I've failed in that respect so far by making her perhaps _too_ human, but I guess it's too early to say for sure.**

**But, I hope you enjoy reading and let me know if there's anything that might be improved.**

* * *

_The feeling was almost overwhelming as Christian took the first step inside the academy's courtyard. The grandeur of the old castle, the crowds of uniformed students and staff, the distant pops from the practice range, everything... It was nothing like the silent, grasscovered outskirts of his hometown. But that was one of the downsides, too._

_ Christian couldn't spot a single grassfield, only a few decorative patches and the ones on the training course, but the number of trees was acceptable; not too many, not too few. The fancy buildings and uniforms also gave the place such an organised feel, as was to be expected of a military academy, but it felt almost alien. Vasel had its roads and organised neighbourhoods, of course, but it was nothing like this. But the best thing was that despite all that, the academy still had a sense of beauty, of serene solitude, like an overgrown island in the middle of a lake, free of outside influence._

"Right, better check in,"_ he thought and headed for the castle. _

_It was hard not to admire the architecture of the old fortifications, the ancient walls still in good shape after centuries of protecting the castle's residents, and now served as training grounds for a new generation of soldiers. Christian had always been a history nut and the feeling of living on the castle grounds felt so amazing, that it took him a while to realize he wasn't where he should be. He hadn't the slightest clue where he was, but it sure wasn't the check-in._

"_Great work, Chris… You had one simple task; find the bloody check-in, and you manage to end up in an old showroom," he mumbled to himself and looked around. The room was full of antiques, as well as more recently created glass cases, displaying more antiques. On the walls hung a collection of paintings; most of them were portraits of various noblemen and women, gazing into the distance, or large landscape images of grand battles. Christian couldn't help but chuckle at some of the nobles, whose outfits were so ridiculously decorated, it reminded him more of clowns than a head of state. Thankfully, most of the portraits had the subject wearing more modest outfits, or even a battle armor. One of the more modest women even resembled Cordelia, Gallia's current Archduchess, whose picture Christian had seen in the papers on occasion._

_ Besides the paintings, the walls were also decorated with tapestries, and all over the room were old sets of armor neatly lined up among other objects, mostly related to warfare, and the glass cases displaying just about everything from broken combs and expensive jewelry to swords and battle-axes. There was even a Valkyrian lance and shield in one of the cases, something Christian recognized instantly from his old history books, though they might have been replicas. Nevertheless, they were a beauty to behold, clunky and unusable though they might seem._

"_Who are you?" Christian heard a voice coming from behind him. He hadn't expected someone finding him and the sudden question made him spin around in shock, fearing he'd gone somewhere he wasn't allowed to. What he saw wasn't quite what he expected, though. Instead of the agitated army officer he assumed the voice had originated from, a girl about his age was standing before him, dressed in the Gallian uniform. The patch on her right shoulder marked her as a private. She had amber-colored eyes and a very strong look about them and her hair was dark and cut short, the longest strands stopping just below her jaw. Most of her bangs didn't reach below her eyebrows, except for a portion that hung over her right eye._

"_Well? Who are you and what are you doing here?" The girl repeated._

"_I-I'm Christian. Christian Raves. I just… got a little lost and thought I'd check out this room before finding my way back… A-and you?"_

"_I'm Erna Mihn. I don't normally see anyone up here, and you say you're lost?… You new here?"_

"_You come here often?" Christian blurted out before realizing how odd and tacky it sounded. "I-I mean, yeah, I'm new!" Christian didn't actually expect her to answer, though._

"_Yeah, I come here every other day. I suppose you might find that odd, but I like it here. I find it calming and inspiring, seeing all these paintings and artifacts from the old days, the history of all the great men and women who built this country. It gives me focus." Erna seemed to drift off for a moment. "What're your thoughts about the past?"_

"_Well, I… I've mostly been studying our military history, the Darcsen calamity and the Valkyria, to name a few."_

"_And?"_

"_Let's just say I have my doubts. I don't really question the greatness of the more prominent figures, but I am skeptical about certain events. That's about it."_

"_Interesting," Erna observed Christian thoughtfully. "So, where are you from?"_

"_I'm from Vasel… You?"_

"_Nowhere special, a pretty little town on the edge of the Barious. Ever been to the desert?"_

"_Can't say I have, no."_

"_Yeah, I suppose I shouldn't expect otherwise. You city types normally can't handle the heat," Erna grinned._

"_U-hu... And I suppose you're able to chase down a rabbit in the pouring rain without freezing to death?"_

"_Haha, you got me there… You're not too bad for a rookie. Say, you busy later?"_

"_Not really… Why?"_

"_Oh, no reason," Erna responded with a smile. "I imagine you'll want to get checked in, if you haven't already. I can guide you there, if you want, and maybe later I can show you around?"_

"_S-sure. Thanks," Christian smiled nervously in return._

* * *

Getting out of the cell was a major relief. The atmosphere had been rather dark and heavy inside, as was to be expected, so the fresh air and sunshine felt incredibly good, almost as if Christian hadn't been outdoors in months. He'd always been a bit of a nature child, so this experience was actually rather new to him.

"_Might be hard getting through another one of these… I'd better be more subtle next time…" _Christian thought to himself before heading for the mess hall. After 3 days of stale bread and water he was looking forward to a decent meal, even if it was but a bowl of soup.

The base was no less busy than usual. No matter where he looked, somebody was doing something; some were performing maintenance on their weapons, cleaning out the barrels and oiling up the firing mechanics so the guns wouldn't jam, while others stood by the practice range and worked on their accuracy or ran the obstacle course to stay in shape. There were also the occasional souls doing their laundry or just hanging out with a group of friends. In the tank hangars one could also see the mechanics going back and forth working on the metal beasts, making sure they'd be in top shape for future combat missions. Christian even spotted a familiar face among them, the small Darcsen girl with the shawl. As opposed to her colleagues, who went from one tank to another and helped each other work out any kinks, she was working alone and focused entirely on the lieutenant's tank.

"_I know I've seen that tank somewhere before… But where? It doesn't look like any of the standard issue."_

However, as busy as everyone seemed, Christian still caught many a glare. It looked like most had not forgiven him for the murder of their fellow, despite him serving out his punishment. It was beginning to irritate him considerably. Why couldn't they understand? The man was going to die anyway, so why not make his death a quick one? Although, Christian got the feeling this was more than just misguided resentment.

The atmosphere in the mess hall was little better but, thankfully, it was considerably less populated at this hour. Although, somehow, it felt even worse that way, as if he could expect any of the soldiers to grow bold and jump him, due to the lack of witnesses and all. _Neutral_ witnesses, anyway.

"How's it hanging, killer?" a man appeared in front of him as he was about to sit down with his meal. His figure was slim, but frail-looking, and his attitude reminded Christian of some of the bullies back home, the ones that were all bark and no bite. The man's squad patch was the same as his own, a 7, and Christian recognized the gray hair almost immediately, but the guy's name managed to elude him. "Nice, aren't they, those isolation chambers? Makes you feel loved, don't they?"

"What do you want…?" Christian responded, annoyed. He wasn't very fond of socializing in general, and this guy managed to really tick him off after seeing him in the meeting a few days back. The fact that he was a sniper, as Christian recalled, and the smug look on his face weren't really helping, either.

"Relax, rookie. Just thought we'd hang out for a bit. Name's Cezary," the man extended a hand, smirking. Christian ignored it and focused on his meal, but kept his eyes on Cezary. "Sheesh, someone's grumpy today."

"Get to the point, snowflake."

"Oooh, ouch. Must I have a point? I can't try to be friends with a fellow rebel? Been hearing about your 'exploits' on the battlefield and thought I'd get to know you better."

"Of course…"

"Look, I'm not trying to make fun of you, if that's what you're thinking," Cezary grew more serious and leaned in closer across the table. His voice became more of a whisper. "Look, buddy, I can see you're not too happy about things around here."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. Why should we have to spare the Imperials? Obviously, they all deserve to die."

"Can't argue with you there…"

"Exactly. And another thing; the Darcsen."

"What about them?" Christian couldn't care less about the Darcsen. They'd never bothered him, he'd never bothered them. It was that simple.

"They shouldn't be here! That's what! They're rodents, pests! They shouldn't be hanging around with the rest of us, and we certainly shouldn't be giving them weapons!"

"And what has that got to do with me?"

"I'd say it's obvious. That scout you shot? I know what you were thinking. Others might not believe you, but I do. I mean, being treated by a Darcsen? She probably would have slipped him some poison, made him suffer like hell. Or maybe you were actually aiming for her? Accidents happen on the battlefield."

"Think what you will, but you'd be wrong. I care nothing about the Darcsen. As long as they're not pointing guns at my head, I have no quarrel with them."

"Don't be stupid! They're Darcsen! It's only a matter of time before they try and bring another calamity down upon our heads!" Christian paid Cezary's words no heed, but Cezary was growing angry at the stuck-up rookie. "… I see how it is. You're one of them Darcsen lovers. Like that loser, Karl. What, you hoping to score some sweet Darcsen ass by acting all 'neutral'? Is _that_ why you shot the scout, perhaps? To impress your precious girlfriend?"

At this point, their conversation was beginning to draw the attention of the rest of the soldiers in the hall. Some of them had gotten out of their seats and were monitoring the two of them closely, slowly making their way towards them, ready to intervene. Whether they'd come to his aid or Cezary's, Christian had no idea, and didn't really want to know. In fact, he didn't really care. Cezary was really starting to frustrate him and he felt himself wanting nothing more than to punch the guy's teeth in, even if it meant getting jumped and possibly beaten by the others. But, as he was just out of isolation, Christian decided not to risk another session.

"You know what I think? I think you should turn around and get the hell out of my sight."

"Or what, hotshot?"

"Or I just might shoot your balls off… Accidents happen, right?" Christian placed a hand on his sidearm to try and get his point across. The ruse proved successful as Cezary frowned and hesitantly backed away before heading for the nearest exit.

Seeing no reason to take action, now that the conflict had been resolved, the other soldiers returned to their seats and Christian breathed a sigh of relief. He'd managed to read Cezary correctly; all bark and no bite… when push came to shove, at least. It probably wouldn't be the last he'd see of him, though.

He eventually finished his meal and decided to head for the obstacle course. He could certainly use the exercise after 3 days of lying around.

* * *

The training grounds were rather packed that day. Almost every firing range was occupied and the noise was deafening. On the obstacle course, a good number of soldiers sprinted back and forth; climbing barricades, jumping over ditches, and crawling under wire nets as well as taking on various other physically challenging tasks in an effort to improve stamina and strength. One such soldier was Jane Turner.

The former florist was taking the track by storm, mocking just about anyone who couldn't keep up with her. Though her comrades might disagree, in a way it was her method of encouragement. She'd taunt anyone she passed, hoping they'd kick their efforts up a notch in order to prove her wrong and be better prepared for a battle. Not that encouragement was the sole purpose of her mockery. She was certainly enjoying it a bit too much for that.

Not everyone became a target of her verbal assaults, however. So far, one boy still managed to stay ahead of her. Jane had been trying to best him for some time, now, but Montley Leonard proved time and again to be more than a match for her speed, until eventually, she gave up. The boy was simply too fast, and appeared to be barely breaking a sweat, even after all this time.

As she was about to grab a bottle of water, she caught the glimpse of a familiar face approaching the training grounds.

"Hey, Jane," Hannes greeted her in his usual tone. He was normally very lively, but in a serious and tough kind of way. He was well aware of the gravity of current events, yet he remained positive and was rarely seen walking around without at least a slight grin on his face. Also, while not outright hating them, he was determined to drive out the Empire, even if it meant killing every single one of them, something Jane admired greatly. All in all, Jane had great respect for Hannes, and enjoyed his company. Not to mention his pretty good looks.

"I see you're doing well, verbally assaulting your comrades," Hannes chuckled. He was an ardent believer in unity among soldiers and found Jane's sadistic nature to be a bit vexing when she focused it on her teammates, but he knew it wasn't all for the sake of humiliation, so he let it slide most of the time. "How many did you send home crying today?"

"Hm, I believe I saw two or three run for the hills. I like to think they went searching for Imps, though."

"You know, it won't kill you if you tone it down just a bit."

"Oh, please. The Militia's tougher than it looks. We don't run at the drop of a hat like the Regulars."

"Speaking of Regulars, isn't that the current center of attention over there?" Hannes pointed towards Christian making his way to the obstacle course. He was dressed in full battle gear, plus grenades and extra ammo clips, unlike most that ran only in the basic outfit and armor pads. "Say what you will about the Regulars, but it seems to me this one takes things seriously."

"He's certainly an odd one, but I like him."

"Do you, now? That's awfully rare for you."

"What can I say? The way he shot that Imp in cold blood back in Kloden was absolutely beautiful. I like his style."

"Jane, please. You know how I feel about you talking of such things. I have no sympathy for the Imperials, but I don't care for the gory details."

"Of course, I'm sorry. But, anyway, I've been getting rather curious about him."

"You? Curious about someone? Are you feeling alright?" Hannes chuckled and pretended to check her forehead for signs of fever.

"Hey, knock it off! I'm just curious about his motive, that's all."

"You mean like how you turned into a sadistic lunatic just because they destroyed your flower shop?"

"Shut up! That flower shop was my life… But, yeah, something like that."

The duo became silent as their thoughts wandered off. Their surroundings, in turn, went silent despite the bustle going on around them and for a minute they merely stared at the people going back and forth in front of them until, eventually, Hannes stood up and prepared to leave.

"Well, never mind that now. I'm sure we'll find out eventually, so no need to obsess about it."

"Leaving already?"

"Yeah. I heard there might be a briefing later, so I figured I'd pack my stuff beforehand instead of rushing at the last minute."

"Hmm, in that case, I believe I'll do the same. No more fun to be had here, anyway. "

* * *

The militia's squad leaders were all assembled in the war room. Both Faldio and Welkin were there, and a few other familiar faces, but there were fresh faces as well; former subordinates filling the void left by their fallen predecessors, as had become the norm in the recent months after the Empire's invasion. Despite Squad 7's recent successes, the majority of the militia was still making little headway against the enemy forces. Although things were certainly beginning to improve, morale still remained a little low and many squad leaders were pessimistic at best.

"Alright, as I assume you've all heard, the Imperials have been spotted deep in the Barious desert." Captain Varrot spoke up, turning the room's attention to the large map hanging on the wall behind her. She pointed out a location in the middle of the desert which, like the rest of the desert, was known for little more than sand and ruins.

"Why would they be there?" One of the squad leaders asked. "There's nothing out there but an empty wasteland."

"Actually," Faldio chimed in, "there is the Temple of the Valkyrur. Could be they're after something in there?"

"We have no way of knowing. Initial reports provided little information besides troop movement and sightings of occasional outpost." Varrot placed a small stack of photos on the table, most of which depicting small gatherings of troops and makeshift fortifications. "However, there are unconfirmed reports that the commander of the invasion forces is present."

"Hmm… They could be planning a surprise attack of some sort," Welkin expressed his thoughts. "The presence of their commander suggests either that or a new base of operations, but the Barious is hardly a good alternative to Ghirlandaio, leaving an attack as the most likely option. Marching through the desert does carry high risk of exhaustion, though, making it a rather gutsy move, except for the added benefits in maintaining the element of surprise."

"Regardless, if they're willing to waste troops doing Valkyrur-knows-what in the middle of the desert, it must be something important, which means we must want it stopped."

"You have a plan in mind, captain?"

"I sure hope so… The Imperials seem to be focused around this area here and here," Varrot first circled a section of the map just south of the temple's location, then another section slightly to the northeast of it. "Squads 1, 3 and 7 will be the ones tackling this mission. Squad 7 will take the south area, while 1 and 3 circle around the temple to engage the larger force in the northeast."

"Anything for the rest of us?" the leader of Squad 4, a young man with dark hair and a confident look in his eyes spoke up.

"Nothing pressing at the moment, but I want squads 2 and 6 stationed at the edges of the desert and to remain on high alert. Squad 4 will head into Kloden for patrols, weed out any Imperial forces that might be trying to re-establish themselves or may have gone overlooked. Squad 5 and everyone else will remain on standby until further notice. Everything clear?"

The room responded in unison with a hearty "yes ma'am", then saluted after the captain dismissed the assembly.

* * *

The entire base was scrambling to prepare for moving out; a directive had just gone out that Squads 1-4, 6 and 7 were to gear up and rendezvous with their lieutenants immediately for a briefing.

Christian had already geared himself up for the obstacle course, so instead he waited by the tank hangar and practiced his reflexes. Eventually he managed to drop one of his magazines and was about to pick it up when someone knocked him down from behind, making sure that the impact forced him down long enough for the person to slip inside the hangar with a head start. Infuriated, Christian sprung up and headed in after the assailant, only to lose sight of him among the tanks and the mechanics.

As he made his way further inside, the area became less crowded, until the immediate area was clear of all personnel except for himself. He grew increasingly suspicious when he noticed that the mechanics seemed to be deliberately steering clear of this _one_ section of the hangar, when all of a sudden there was a loud engine roar.

One of the tanks to his left had been started up and was now heading towards him at full speed. Christian immediately leapt out of the way and the tank missed him by mere inches, then turned and drew to an almost immediate halt before rolling out the hangar in a casual fashion.

"Somebody stop that maniac!" Christian shouted towards the mechanics, but they ignored him, acting as if nothing had happened and continued going about their business. Christian could hardly believe it was happening, but a small part of him was not surprised. _"This place is a nut-house!"_

He'd failed to catch the tank's identifications, so filing a report would do him little good. Instead, he'd just have to be extra careful from now on and make sure to note anything that might identify the culprit. He might also have to recruit the help of a few trustworthy people, but, given the circumstances, that'd be a lot easier said than done. The only persons that came to mind were Claudia, Alex and possibly Nadine.

Just then, the Edelweiss began its drive out of the hangar, its engine snapping Christian back to the matter at hand. Surprisingly, it stopped right next to him and, soon after, the Darscen girl appeared out of the top hatch.

"Hop on," she motioned Christian. For what reasons, he couldn't say, but he wasn't one for refusing a tank ride, although the recent attempt on his life left him skeptical of the offer's sincerity. The girl obviously noticed the hesitation in his eyes, as she proceeded to assure him she meant no harm.

"I take it you know I was almost run over, then?"

"I do… It pains me to admit it but, like everyone here, I knew in advance."

"And it didn't occur to you to warn me or something!" The girl looked somewhat intimidated as Christian raised his voice. "I could've been killed just now, and the whole lot of you were just going to watch!"

"… No, we weren't." Her voice was little more than a mumble, so Christian could barely hear it and asked her to repeat herself. "We weren't going to just watch."

"Oh, is that so? So you were just going to cover your eyes while I got rolled over by 10 tons of armor!"

"Actually, you weren't going to die… At least, that's what he told us…"

"… Excuse me?" Christian was dumbfounded by the response. Someone was trying to run him over but… not run him over? "And who's 'he'?"

"I don't know. He never showed his face to the rest of us, and I never caught his name. All I know is that he's from Squad 3, and he might have been a sergeant…" she hesitated for a moment, then resumed. "He came in a couple of days ago and told us to ignore what he was about to do, said he just wanted to scare you, teach you a lesson of some kind. Most of the others didn't much care for you, so they agreed almost immediately, the rest were eventually persuaded."

"... And what about you?"

"I didn't want anything to do with it. I considered reporting them, but some of them started threatening me."

"So you gave in to peer pressure, is that it?"

"In a way… The man did tell them to back off, but he insisted I keep quiet, at least. Then he recommended I work inside the Edelweiss so I could deny any involvement, just in case… You must understand, I really am sorry, and at least you're all right."

Christian was finding it hard to be even the least bit forgiving these days, but the girl seemed truly honest. And even though she was the pilot of this metal beast she was still just a young girl, so her compliance wasn't entirely unjustified.

"… Alright, I'll forgive you, but don't think I'll let you off the hook for something like this again just because you're cute." Christian wasn't really sure why he said that last part and cleared his throat to try and stave off the awkward feeling. The girl merely giggled and thanked him for the understanding.

"I'm Isara, by the way. Now, hop on. Letting you ride is the least I could do."

Christian smiled in return and climbed onto the tank. In truth, he'd wanted to ride on top of one of these babies ever since hearing of his father's military service in EWI, but even in the Regulars he'd never gotten the chance. Now that the chance finally presented itself, he was giddy with anticipation, putting even his most recent troubles behind him, if only for a moment. It was probably the happiest feeling he'd had in weeks, perhaps even months, but there was still that gnawing feeling buried deep in his chest. The one that just wouldn't go away.


	9. Chapter 8: Desert Conflict

**At last, the long-awaited Chapter 8. Longest thing I've ever written, to be sure, an achievement I seem to be all too focused on. Anyway, I'm happy with it for the most part, but as always I've got a nagging feeling at the back of my head telling me I'm doing something wrong. Mostly it's something about repeating myself, but I'll let you be the judge.**

**I'm sure you'll notice early on that I've again copied dialogue from the game, but this time I tried involving Christian a bit more. I don't consider it well done, but I think it's a decent first step in the right direction.**

**Remember to point out anything you feel might be handled better, so I can try and improve it for future chapters or (possibly) any rewrites I might undertake (note that rewrites will most likely not happen anytime soon).**

* * *

The desert was, unsurprisingly, very hot and dry, more so than Christian had expected. He'd never been to the desert before so he was finding the heat hard to cope with and had to constantly restrain himself from reaching for his canteen. At least he didn't have to walk.

"… _I guess Erna was right... I really can't handle the heat,"_ he chuckled to himself and smiled, but quickly stopped, opting to think about the scorching heat rather than memories. It felt much better, even though he almost literally felt like he was melting away.

As the squad went further into the desert, it passed countless trenches and odd rock formations, the remains of ancient buildings and roads. Christian had heard about how the Barious had once been the site of a large city but was destroyed in what was now known as the Darcsen Calamity, leaving the Barious in its current state with nothing but crumbling walls dotting the landscape.

"Hmm, looks like we're close to where the enemy should be." Christian turned his head to see Welkin standing out of the hatch and looking over his map. He hadn't made any mention of what it was they were looking for, but Christian figured it was obvious. Welkin proceeded to mark something on the map then knocked on the tank's hull, signaling Isara to stop. It wasn't long before Alicia, Largo and Rosie, the woman with her red hair tied into buns, had gathered by the Edelweiss. There was also a news correspondent, Irene Ellet, who Christian had only just met as the squad was leaving Amatriain. Apparently she was covering the story of Squad 7's exploits for the GBS radio station, starting at Vasel, but Christian hadn't noticed her in Kloden, possibly because she'd been laying low for safety reasons.

"We'll stop here for a bit. Get the men properly rested and hydrated while we scout ahead," Welkin ordered and Largo proceeded to distribute watermelons from the supply truck. Christian reluctantly accepted a slice. He wasn't very fond of the taste, but he had wasted enough water and needed the refreshment.

Once the distribution was finished, the Edelweiss headed a little further ahead, with Alicia, Largo, Rosie and Irene joining Christian on top of it. Eventually they came upon a small hill overlooking the desert, and Alicia pulled out a pair of binoculars. To the east, a trail of dust could be seen as squads 1 and 3 disturbed the desert sands on the way to their destination.

"Know what, this is one strange place." Largo spoke up as he continued chomping on his watermelon. "Rocks with holes in 'em. Dug up ground as far as the eye can see."

"Not always. They say this used to be a huge ancient city." Welkin responded, barely looking up from his map.

"And now it's nothing but a big, empty, irritatingly hot wasteland." Christian grumbled and forced down the last of his watermelon. "I'm never coming back here willingly, that's for sure."

"We all know what happened," Rosie spit out a melon seed and tossed away the skin. "The Darcsen Calamity happened. They say the dark-hairs used some kind of dark arts to burn this city. Left nothing but ash."

"I don't know. Isara said that was a myth with no real historical evidence."

"I'm with the reporter on that one," Christian added. "I've studied the subject somewhat and I haven't seen a shred of hard fact, only theories and conjecture."

"Look, their kind has been diggin' up ragnite since forever, so who's to say they don't know some weird Darcseny type way to use the stuff as a weapon. I'm just sayin'."

"I doubt it. Besides, why would they completely destroy their own city? It makes no sense."

"Anyway, " Largo butted in with a determined tone, "as I was saying, we are in the middle of the badlands, and what exactly are we doing here?"

"We've received some intelligence," Welkin answered, saying the Imperials had been spotted setting up a base near the ruins. "Squad 7 was sent out here to investigate."

"Imperials here?" Rosie looked puzzled. "Some sandbox to come play in… I don't get them. Who knows what they're thinking."

"She's right. Something is definitely up here." Irene added and leaned over the cannon. "I mean, I just can't figure it out, you know. Why would they occupy this place?"

"I say let them," Christian took a moment to stretch his limbs. He hadn't realized how stiff his joints were feeling after enduring the tank's vibrations. "Whatever's out here can't be of much value, so why not hit them where it hurts while they play archaeologist, here in the middle of nowhere?"

"Kid's got a point, boss." Largo turned to Welkin to say something else but was interrupted by Alicia.

"Enemy sighted," she declared, still staring intently through the binoculars. "Tanks at 0-4-0! Distance 800! Hold on… yes! There are foot soldiers as well… and they're taking up combat positions!"

Welkin immediately alerted the rest of the squad through the radio, ordering them into combat formations. Once they had rendezvoused at the tank, Welkin gave a quick briefing.

"There's a lot of ground to cover, and much of it is open," he continued, "so use the ruins and trenches for cover whenever you can. The snipers play an important role as well, so make good use of their talents. Now, move out!"

The soldiers remained close to the Edelweiss for the first few feet down the hill then jumped for the closest cover available as they drew closer to the ruins. At first there was no sign of the enemy except for the occasional figure running in the distance.

The shocktroopers quickly took the lead, with the scouts close behind them and the occasional engineer and lancer. The ruins felt eerily silent as the Imperials remained out of sight. At the heart of the area was a large rock, with a trench running right through it. The rock wall bordering the trench looked quite smooth, as if something had cut the rock clean. Christian positioned himself inside the trench but when the enemy still refused to make a move, he decided to shift his position to a couple of parallel walls few feet ahead, only to be taken by surprise by an Imperial who had already settled in between them.

"Shit," he cursed and dove back into the trench, just in time to avoid the shots that followed.

Realizing they'd lost the element of surprise, the Imperials started their attack. Their numbers were spread all over the place, behind walls, rocks or crouching in the trenches up ahead. The Imp between the walls began harassing Christian, taking potshots at him from his cover but refusing to fully emerge, forcing the Gallian to keep his head down.

Once the Edelweiss was in range, Imperial lancers made their move, stopping it in its tracks but not really damaging it. The tank retaliated with a couple of machinegun bursts and managed to take down one lancer but the others bolted back into cover in order to reload.

"_Snipers in position, ready for orders," _a female voice sounded on the radio. Some of the snipers had nestled on top of a ridge slightly to the south, overlooking the battlefield, and began scouting for potential victims.

Growing impatient of dealing with the Imp, Christian reached for one of his grenades and armed it, then tossed it over the wall closer to him. The Imperial scrambled to get out of the blast zone but was sent flying out into the open, and right into the crossfire.

"_We've got eyes on enemy reinforcements coming from the northeast, by a largely intact building," _one of the snipers reported from his position. _"Too many to handle with snipers alone, recommend sending a small group to intercept through the rock."_

"We're on it," Christian heard Alicia responding from close by. She then motioned to those around her, Christian included, to follow her through the trench to the other side. Besides Alicia, the team was composed of Claudia, Montley, and Nils, with Christian and Hannes taking point.

A couple of Imperials greeted them when they emerged but were quickly disposed of. As they moved further along the trench, which expanded well beyond the rock, there was a sudden bang and Christian felt a stinging pain in his left leg, causing him to stumble and fall forward but managed to let his shoulder take the brunt of it, sparing his face.

"Sniper!" The team took immediate cover before more bullets landed. A few more whizzed by as Alicia risked a look, suggesting multiple sharpshooters. Meanwhile, the enemy reinforcements drew in closer, half of them taking up defensive positions by the building while the other half moved on Alicia's team and opened fire.

"Snipers, do you read?" Alicia asked the radio. "We're pinned down just south of the building, multiple hostiles, and snipers on the roof! Requesting support!"

"_We see 'em. Standby." _Within moments the enemy snipers collapsed dead on the roof or fell off, and the radio crackled once more. _"Enemy snipers eliminated, providing additional cover."_

"How's that?" Claudia asked as she finished treating Christian's leg, making sure the bandage was properly tightened. Christian grimaced a bit when she pulled on the wrapping, but it was more reflex than pain thanks to the Ragnaid's sedative effects.

"It's bearable, stings a little under the pressure though."

"I'm afraid the bullet's still in there. I can't reach it without the proper tools," she continued, looking somewhat concerned. "But I can call the medic and have her treat you."

"No, don't. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure? Even with the sedatives, you'll be limping through the battlefield, and they won't last forever."

"I said; I'll be fine. Don't worry about it." Claudia remained skeptical, but Christian insisted.

"Alright, but if you start hurting again, I'm calling the medic."

"Yes, dear." Christian was starting to feel oddly playful, possibly caused by the adrenaline. He could feel the tingle running through his arms as he picked up his weapon, itching to get back into the fight. "I'm not missing this action."

Christian took his position by the rest of the team and fired at the first Imperial in sight. He was trembling a bit from the blood loss, so his aim was a little off, but was still able to eventually bring down his target.

As Alicia's team continued to advance on the building, Welkin's main force began pushing back the Imperials on their side. The desert sands were riddled with dust clouds as explosions scattered the surface in all directions, walls crumbled and soldiers dove for cover. It wasn't long before the Gallians had complete control over the ruins and the last Imperials were killed or driven out.

But the battle wasn't won yet. Across the field to the north the Imperials held the advantage. Although their position was composed of only light fortifications, it would be a hard fight for anyone crossing the open field, which was devoid of all cover, with the exception of very few trenches. In essence the field was a kill zone, spelling almost certain death by the hands of snipers, not to mention the 3 Imperial tanks that were now headed towards Squad 7's position.

Before they were in the lancers' range, the tanks began bombarding the ruins from afar. While not very accurate, it served to put the pressure on the squad and effectively turn every wall and rock formation into potential hazard zones, thus limiting the number of reliable cover available.

The Edelweiss and the lancers attempted to retaliate, but hitting specific targets at such range was never the strong point of heavy weaponry. The Imperial armor suffered a beating but remained intact and continued their barrage.

"Hm? … It looks like the wind is really picking up," Welkin addressed his sister in the driver's seat below him. He'd noticed that the dust, scattered by the explosions, was clearing at an increasing speed.

"I suspect it's a sandstorm," Isara responded, already aware of it. "They're infamous in these areas, capable of causing severe visibility drops."

"That might be troublesome." Welkin adjusted the turret, aiming at the closest tank. "It might be a lot harder to spot the enemy until it blows over." The Edelweiss shook as the round went off. In the distance, the sand blew up in all directions mere inches from the Imperial armor.

"True, but the same goes for them. This might be our chance to get close."

Meanwhile, outside the tank, some of the Gallians' attention was being drawn to a large wall of dust approaching from the east. It covered most of the horizon, and its constantly shifting form suggested wild wind activity.

"Aw, hell…" Christian, who had dug in deep in one of the trenches, cursed as he observed the approaching storm. Reaching for his pack, he immediately pulled out his handkerchief to cover his face with. "Crap, I forgot my goggles… This is going to sting."

"You can have mine." Claudia extended a pair to Christian.

"But, what about you?"

"You need them more than I do. I'm unlucky enough as it is, anyway, so it won't make much of a difference," she giggled in response.

"Well, alright… But stick close to me, ok?" Christian insisted and put the goggles on.

"Of course."

"_Alright, Sevens,"_ Welkin's voice appeared on the radio, _"looks like we've got a sandstorm coming, so be ready. Once the storm hits, we'll make our advance and use it as cover. I recommend you pair up with at least 1 or 2 squad mates, and stay within calling range of the nearest group. It's possible the storm might interrupt our radio signals, so you need to be able to communicate directly."_

Sure enough, within minutes the battlefield was completely obscured by the violent winds. Visibility was near zero, and the soldiers were having trouble making out anything further than 10 feet away.

For Claudia, the visibility was even worse. She had to squint in order to keep the sand out of her eyes, but it wasn't very effective. In any case, she was having serious trouble seeing anything, and had to keep a hold on Christian's backpack so as not to lose him. What she didn't know, however, was that Christian was pretty much lost as well. He hadn't noticed until too late that he wasn't hearing anything beyond the storm and, sure enough, the radio was out, so now he just kept going in as straight a line as possible, hoping he'd eventually run into something, or someone, that'd help him regain his bearings.

As time passed and the two just kept walking, Claudia began growing concerned.

"Is everything all right?" She had to shout through her mask and the storm to make sure he'd heard her. "It feels like we've been walking forever!"

Christian shouted back some words of assurance, but he knew perfectly well they were lost. He just didn't want to cause any needless worry, or admit his failure for that matter. Instead he kept going, still hoping he'd stumble his way onto the right path, until eventually he could make out the shrouded form of what looked like a small portion of a wall.

As the pair got closer, Christian could make out the form more easily. It was definitely a wall, a corner wall to be precise, the only standing remains of whatever building that must've been located there. From their current angle of approach, the wall's "interior" was facing away from them, and Christian feared there might be someone hiding there already. A little farfetched, to be sure, seeing how they'd bumped into no one else for what seemed like miles, and the only sound was the wailing of the wind.

Still, he was cautionary by nature and proceeded as such, asking Claudia to stay put a few feet away from the wall. He could feel his heartbeat rising as he prepared to take a look, taking fully into account the possibility of someone being aware of his presence on the other side… And his hunch was right.

The moment he turned around the wall, someone lunged at him. He tried retaliating but the attack came too fast, so he managed putting only a few bullets into the section of the wall behind the attacker before dropping his gun from the impact. The assailant was an Imperial in crimson armor, and proceeded to immediately shower Christian with punches as he struggled underneath. Christian was able to block most of them after receiving the first few and went straight on the offensive at the earliest chance, pushing the Imperial off to the side and rolling on top of him, effectively turning the table in his favor.

But the Imperial proved quick, managing to catch both of Christian's fists before they hit and turning the struggle into a wrestling match. For a while, the two of them wrestled in the desert sand, struggling to subdue the other with punches and various holds. Christian could hear Claudia frantically calling from behind the wall, unable to assist and growing increasingly worried. Christian tried to respond but only ended up presenting the enemy with an opening, which he exploited in order to pull out a knife from his belt.

Christian managed to stop it just inches from his chest, but his opponent was strong, and the pain in his leg was sapping his strength as the sedatives were beginning to wear off.

"_Blasted ragnaid! The timing couldn't possibly be worse!"_ Christian thought to himself, as his sweating steadily increased and every muscle in his body felt like it was exploding from the adrenaline. But despite the effort, the knife was slowly getting closer. He could hear the Imperial chuckling under his helmet, looking forward to the kill.

"Pathetic Gallians, you really can't realize when you've already lost, can you?" The words were a little interrupted by the helm and the wind, but clear enough so Christian could just make them out. "You've been a real pest, y'know. Which is why, once I'm done with you, I'm going to have some fun with your lady-friend. But don't worry. I'll make sure to take very… good… care… of her." Christian could feel something suddenly awakening within him when he heard the smugness in the Imp's voice. He felt intense anger flaring up, a strong desire for vengeance. The memories he'd been trying to forget since the beginning of the war were surfacing yet again, stronger than ever, and feeding him with a powerful will to survive in order to deal out his hatred of the Empire.

Before the Imperial could realize, Christian had turned him on his back and wrestled the knife out of his grip. He then proceeded to give the bewildered enemy a furious thrashing before plunging the knife hilt-deep into his neck.

The Imp made a last gurgling noise as his life ebbed away, but Christian didn't feel like stopping. He retracted the knife from the man's neck and forced it with all his strength through the armor on his chest, multiple times, until the blade was all but broken. He then stood up and drew his pistol.

"Christian!" Claudia called once more when she heard the gunshot. Besides the first burst of shots, and the occasional grunt she'd managed to pick up through the wind, she had no way of knowing what was happening, until she heard the last shot after a moment of relative silence. When Christian didn't respond, she began fearing the worst, but after a while she could hear footsteps approaching. They were irregular, as if the person was limping badly, which she was able to confirm once she could see the advancing figure. "Is that you, Christian?"

"… Yeah, it's me."

"Oh, thank Valkyrur." Claudia breathed a sigh of relief. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine… Had a bit of a scuffle." Christian sounded out of breath. "Come on, let's get some better cover."

As Christian came closer and extended his hand, Claudia could now see the considerable amount of crimson staining his uniform. "I-… Is that blood?"

"It's not mine. Don't worry."

"But there's so much! What the hell happened?" Christian ignored the question, but dragged her inside the corner of the wall and sat her down.

"Get some rest," he said and sat himself next to her, covering both of them with a blanket he pulled from his pack, and quickly fell asleep from exhaustion. Claudia tried to do the same, but her current questions and concerns kept her wide awake. Instead she tried getting some of the sand out of her eyes, but there was only so much she could achieve with just her hands and the blanket was too small for her to be moving around a lot without it falling off.

Eventually she managed to relax a bit, resting her head on Christian's shoulder as she listened to the wind wailing outside the cover of the blanket. It provided a strange sense of stillness, and she could feel herself slowly dozing off.

* * *

Claudia awoke to the erratic crackling of the radio. She could only make out occasional words amidst the static noise, one of them being "find". She was certain it meant the squad might be looking for them, and was about to inform Christian when she realized he was no longer there, and she had been lying alone under the blanket. The storm had also subsided, so she risked a look from under the cover.

There seemed to be nothing nearby, except an odd mound with what looked like pieces of crimson metal sticking out of it. Her eyes were still somewhat covered with sand, so she reached for her canteen in order to wash them, looking forward to getting rid of the irritation and finally being able to see properly again. She was just about done when she noticed Christian approaching.

"Ah, you're awake," he greeted her and turned his attention to a rifle that had been leaning against the wall. It seemed to be an Imperial design. Christian noticed the curious look on her face and turned to the strange mound. "Turns out our friend here was an Imperial sniper ace. I figured I'd hold onto his weapon, now that he's not in much of a condition to use it."

"So… That's _his_ blood on you?" Claudia asked with renewed concern. It took Christian a second to realize he was still half-covered in red; he hadn't paid it much heed.

"It was either him or me," Christian replied in half-truth. He didn't want Claudia to panic any more than she already had. "The fucker wouldn't stay down, so I had to be a little more… persuasive."

Claudia didn't know whether she should be relieved, suspicious or just plain scared.

"In any case, we should get moving." Christian slung the rifle on his back and offered his hand to help Claudia on her feet. "There's something I want to check out."

"We're not heading back?"

"Not yet. There's something I want to check out, first."

"What about your leg?" Claudia looked at Christian's injured leg but realized his limp hadn't been as bad as before for a while, now.

"I'll get by on the ragnaid for now." Christian answered and gave his thigh a light clap. "And don't worry. We're practically a stone's throw away from squads 1 and 3, so we'll be fine, even if something goes wrong."

It turned out the pair had gone further off course to the east than Christian had anticipated, and they really had been walking for miles. Instead of Squad 7's original route, to arrive at the temple's southwest side, Christian had ended up leading Claudia to the northeast of the temple, close to the other squads' destination. And during his short scouting trip, he'd noticed something big further north, and now he wanted to take a closer look.

* * *

"Have you guys seen the new kid?" Ted, Alex, and Ted's friend, Melville, turned to see Hannes walking towards them, accompanied by Jane. He looked concerned.

"Nope. Haven't seen 'im." Ted was the first to answer.

"I don't think I've even met the guy." Melville spoke. He was a rather tall fellow with a round, friendly face, which seemed to be in a bit of contrast to the red mohawk he was sporting. "What's he like, anyway?"

"Oh, you wouldn't like 'im, Mel. He's this huuuuge, buff, monster of a man, with sharp teeth, and grumpier than an old man at 5 in the morning," Ted exaggerated in a playful fashion.

"Seriously!"

"… We really need to work on your gullibility, man."

"You're his roommate, aren't you, Ted?" Jane asked.

"I don't like to brag… but, yeah."

"Don't be stupid. Bragging is your middle name," Alex chimed in with a chuckle.

"Heh, I suppose it is."

"N-… Now that I think about it… I haven't seen Claudia anywhere, either." A timid voice emerged from a nearby shade, where a petite girl adjusted her glasses. Nancy had a habit of keeping to herself, preferring an unobtrusive presence, so Hannes hadn't noticed her sitting there, until now.

"So we've got two missing militiamen?"

Ted and Melville's faces suddenly lit up, an odd grin forming on their lips. For a moment the two just chuckled between themselves, but their need to share the laughs eventually got the better of them.

"You hear that, Mel? We've got two missing. A boy and a girl!"

"And you know what that means!"

"It's a ROMANTIC RUNAWAY," the two of them shouted simultaneously and burst out laughing. While the joke itself wasn't particularly funny, Alex found himself holding back a smile at the way the two of them acted it out. Hannes and Jane, however, were not amused.

"I just knew they had something going between them! I knew it," Ted eventually managed to declare once he regained control of his breathing.

"This is not a laughing matter," Jane responded by hitting him on the back of his head with an audible slap, nearly smacking him face first into the sand.

"Ow!"

"You had it coming, Ted. Some things just aren't material for a joke," Hannes supported Jane. He had his arms crossed and a look of great displeasure on his face. "We've got two comrades somewhere out there, in the middle of the desert, possibly wounded or worse. This is not a time to be cracking jokes about the potential nature of their relationship."

Ted withdrew, with a sheepish shade of red coloring his cheeks. "Well… Has anyone tried contacting them?"

"Not that I'm aware of. And even then it's quite likely their radios might be out of commission, jammed with sand, for example." Hannes sighed. "Anyway, we'd better make sure the commander's aware of this once he gets back."

* * *

An uncomfortable feeling of despair crawled through his body, as Christian beheld the metal beast on the desert floor below them. He could sense his strength leaving his body, and he vividly recalled how feeble he felt when he first laid eyes on the monster, yet at the same time he felt the rising desire to blow it apart.

"Christian? Is something wrong?" Claudia noticed he'd suddenly started breathing more intensely, almost trembling. The tank below was certainly a fearsome sight, but she didn't feel nearly as intimidated by it as Christian seemed to be.

"That tank..." Christian hissed through gritted teeth. "Showing up here of all places… Why?"

"What? What's wrong?" For a moment Claudia thought Christian was beginning to cry, but it might have just been his breathing.

"If you must know, that is the tank that pretty much single-handedly crippled Ghirlandaio!" His response was a little more forceful than he'd intended. "And, yes, I was there!"

Christian proceeded to mutter something under his breath, but Claudia couldn't possibly make out what. It was most likely just common cursing, though.

"So… You were actually at Ghirlandaio?" It wasn't that she needed a confirmation, but for some reason she felt like she had to hear him say it again.

"… Ugh… Yes, and I'm not very fond of the memory, so I'd appreciate it if you'd keep it to yourself." Christian took a moment to reassert himself, taking deep breaths to try and calm down. He was directing way too much of his hostility towards Claudia, simply for being curious about something he himself had revealed. He wasn't even sure why he'd told her in the first place. Most likely it'd been a reflex, a habit of his for answering questions before they were asked, something that had developed after Ghirlandaio whenever he got irritated or angry. "Just… Don't go spreading it around… If you want, I'll answer any questions later, just don't tell anyone. I'd rather be free of any attention regarding that place."

"A-alright," Claudia nodded her head in agreement.

"Good… Now if only I could get closer…" Christian started looking around the area, observing the landscape.

"Why not just walk up to it? There's nobody guarding it."

"Not unless you'd want to get torn to shreds… See those two spheres on the side? Those are machine guns, two on each side and one on both ends, and they'll rip right through you in a heartbeat. That thing is a fortress, and not just because of its size. It's practically indestructible."

"Wow…" Claudia was awestruck. "But indestructible? You can't be serious."

"Of course not, there's always a weak spot… I just don't know where it is, yet." Christian sighed. "I think the radiator must be built inside it, or maybe it's too hard to reach because of the machine guns and the rear-cannon. But either way, our best bet is to destroy it from the inside."

"But the only way to get close to it would be… from above?"

"Exactly," Christian replied with an enthusiastic grin. "But we won't be able to do much when it's just sitting out here in the open… Come on, let's head back. At the very least, we should warn the others of its presence here."

* * *

"Pick up the pace, we need to hurry!" Christian shouted back towards Claudia, who seemed to be slowing down. About halfway to the temple, they'd noticed an Imperial jeep heading in the opposite direction, carrying a noticeably important individual. Even from afar, the man's clothing was visibly extravagant, so Christian had naturally assumed him to be the Imperial invasion commander. And, given his current heading, there was no doubt he was returning from the temple and heading for the giant tank, most likely planning on wiping out the militia… Unless he'd already done so.

The fact that he was leaving the temple area with minimal escort worried Christian greatly. He couldn't believe the squad would just let him go, so either he somehow managed to crush them or the militia was more corrupt than the Regulars' high command. Those felt like the most likely options, anyway. Christian hoped the bugger had simply managed to sneak away, though the flashy outfit pretty much ruled out that possibility.

"I'm running as fast as I can, but it's hard while carrying all this gear," Claudia called back, slowly falling behind. "And how can you keep going so fast with an injured leg?"

"… I ignore it." In all actuality, he was in considerable pain, even with the sedatives from the ragnaid capsule he'd used just after spotting the jeep. "Here, place your arm over my shoulder. It should be easier if we support each other. We're almost there, so try to hold back the exhaustion."

Eventually the pair reached a large arch just outside the temple, connecting the cliff on their side with another across the entryway to the low valley. Just behind the temple entrance they could see the Gallian flag fluttering over the base camp, surrounded by stacks of sandbags as makeshift cover, and some militiamen behind them. In the ruins below, the rest of the squad was taking up positions behind the crumbled walls and in the trenches, with the Edelweiss positioned just outside the chokepoint that formed under the arch.

"They're taking up combat positions…" Christian breathed a sigh of relief, but remained somewhat puzzled. How did the enemy commander manage to break through if the squad didn't plan on letting him go? "Say… the lieutenant isn't one of those fanatically honorable soldiers, is he?"

"Eh?" Claudia was a little taken aback by the odd question. "Well… no, not as such. He's a little odd, but that's about it, as far as I know… But why are you asking that all of a sudden? Don't we have _bigger _things to worry about?"

"Ah, sorry, you're right. Think they can hear us from here?"

"It's worth a shot."

Christian proceeded to shout towards the soldiers closest to them at the top of his lungs. He could see some of them turning their heads, trying to locate the source, until one of them spotted the two of them waving on the cliff's edge. He tried shouting a warning, but it seemed they couldn't hear him clearly enough to fully understand it, so one of them decided to run over to them.

Christian was quickly able to identify the approaching soldier as Hannes, his messy, dark curls being almost a dead giveaway.

"Where the hell have you two been? We've been worried sick about you," Hannes called from below, a playful tone in his voice.

"We got a little lost in during the storm, but never mind that! We've got trouble!"

"If you're talking about Commander Fancy-pants, there's no need for worry!"

"You don't know what you're getting into!" Christian explained more seriously. "You need to get everyone into better cover, or you'll be massacred!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You're not up against an ordinary tank! This thing is near impregnable; you won't be able to get close to it without the proper strategy!"

Hannes looked skeptical, but relayed the information through his radio.

"I suppose you've got a plan, then?" Hannes asked after receiving an affirmation from Welkin.

"Tell the lieutenant to keep the squad back, keep your distance as much as possible! Claudia and I are going to try and get on top of it and destroy it from within! But if you can take out the machine guns on its sides, you can use the ladders to scale it as well!"

Again Hannes relayed the information, although still doubtful. Whatever response he received from Welkin, however, seemed to put him more at ease.

"You're certain this plan will work?"

"It's the best I've got! If not, we'll have to improvise or abandon the field!"

Hannes appeared to hesitantly nod in agreement, and then turned to leave.

"Oh, and by the way! The commander asks you to be careful up there! We've already lost you enough times for one day!" With that, the shocktrooper ran back to his comrades.

Christian took a deep breath and turned to Claudia. She looked surprisingly calm, considering what was to come, which in turn helped him to calm down as well. But it also produced a sense of anxiety, like a bad omen… It had been the same at Ghirlandaio, but the feeling was stronger now.

"So… I imagine the monster will be here any minute…" Christian unconsciously began fondling his MAGS M4, as well as pulling at the strap of the Imperial rifle he had on his back. "You ready for this?"

"Not really," Claudia replied. "I'm still not very used to fighting… And I'm not exactly what you'd consider lucky, but now I'm going to be jumping onto some invincible metal beast and try to bring it down… To be honest I'm not very optimistic about our chances, especially if my luck is involved."

"You're not scared, are you?" Christian tried his best not to sound condescending.

"Surprisingly, no. I'm actually more afraid of not trying," Claudia responded with a slightly nervous smile. "I mean, I've endured hardships my entire life, so giving up now would feel kind of… Odd… I'm not quite sure how to explain, but… It'd feel like I'd be denying the very center of my being, or something in that direction."

Christian was about to say something, but distant rumbling distracted him from his intended words. Looking towards it, he could see the massive tank approaching through the valley, accompanied by a group of soldiers following along the cliff.

"Shit," Christian cursed and pulled Claudia behind the arch's base. Risking a peek, he hoped the Imperials were too far away to have spotted them but, considering their blue uniforms standing in the middle of the brown desert, that was highly unlikely. "Looks like there's too many for just the two of us… But we might be able to buy some time until the tank is in range, if necessary."

"Or," Claudia pulled the rifle off of Christian's back and readied it, "we could start picking them off right now."

"You sure you know how to handle one of those?" Christian asked, a little perplexed at Claudia's initiative.

"Not really, but it's not much different from my regular rifle, I imagine. It just has the added benefit of a scope."

"You might want to be careful, though. These rifles tend to-," Christian was interrupted mid-sentence as Claudia fired off a shot, the recoil knocking her back a bit and causing her some pain, judging by the look on her face. "… have a bit more of a kick."

"Just my luck…" Claudia rubbed her right shoulder a bit and looked to the approaching soldiers. Her shot hadn't hit any of the Imperials, but most certainly managed to alert them. "But… I think I've got the hang of it now." She readied the rifle for another shot, planting her legs firmly into the ground beforehand, and readying every muscle in her upper body.

The shot went off a little smoother this time. There was still some recoil, due to the fresh bruise on her shoulder forcing her to give way, but by some miracle she managed to get one Imperial square in the leg.

"Ow, ow, ow…" Claudia winced and grabbed her shoulder again. "I don't think I'll be doing that again…"

"Let me." Christian grabbed the rifle from her hand and took aim at the first Imperial. Looking through the scope, he couldn't help but feel the irony of it… He hated snipers. Christian took a quick breath as he finished aiming, then pulled the trigger.

The Imperial in front was immediately knocked backwards as the bullet tore right through his faceguard. His remaining comrades began really picking up the pace, hoping to reach their attacker before he'd manage to fire off another shot. Christian, on the other hand, slung the now-emptied rifle on his back and took out his M4 instead.

"Whoa… How'd you pull that off?"

"Beginner's luck," Christian replied and urged her to get ready. "And… I may have gotten some pointers from… an old friend… But enough of that! We need to hold these guys off until the tank's in range!"

Claudia nodded and took aim with her rifle. As soon as she opened fire, some of the Imperial scouts responded in kind, with most of the Imperial unit joining in soon after. The bruise on her shoulder irritated her to no end, throbbing every time her rifle recoiled, though it wasn't nearly as bad as when she was handling the Imperial one.

Christian pulled out the last of his grenades and armed it, tossing it at a couple of lancers that were getting too close. The blast knocked them back, along with a few shocktroopers accompanying them, but was unable to kill them. One of them was shot dead as he struggled to get back on his feet, but the other managed to crawl behind a rock, the distinct blue glow of ragnaid emanating from his location as he tended to his wounds.

"How far is the tank!" Claudia asked, ducking back into cover and loading her rifle with a new clip.

"Not far! It's passing the Imps at this moment!" Christian unloaded a few rounds into one of the advancing shocktroopers, then moved on to his next target. The enemy's advance was slow, but they were starting to get alarmingly close. "Once it passes under the arch, make the jump and go prone! And remember to put everything you've got into it, don't hesitate when you leap!"

"Just make sure you don't leave me alone on that thing, ok?"

"Don't worry! I'll be right behind you!" The two turned their full attention back to the fighting. The Imperials seemed to be getting disheartened, having lost a few of their numbers to only a pair of Gallian militiamen, but their advance continued. The tank, however, kept a steady pace and slowly distanced itself from the unit, drawing ever closer to the arch.

"Now! Go, go, go!" Christian ordered when the tank began passing under it. Claudia moved as far back as the cover allowed and sprinted towards the edge, putting every ounce of strength she had into the jump once she reached it.

She landed roughly but safely on a platform, making sure to keep low as Christian had instructed. "Come on!"

Christian grimaced as a lancaar round landed a few feet away, launching some pebbles at him, but shrugged it off and moved to jump. The sedatives were still functioning, but the pain was enough to weaken his legs and the distance of his jump turned out a little shorter than he had hoped. He managed to grab hold of the top of the ladder, but got the wind knocked out of him when the rest of his body followed suit and crashed into it.

For a moment he hung onto the ladder, attempting to regulate his breathing, but Claudia offered a hand and helped pull him up.

"Th-… ack… Thank you…" Christian eventually managed to cough up.

Back on top of the cliff, the Imperials had reached the arch, some of them deciding to take a breather while the others continued towards the temple. It seemed none of them were too concerned about the two Gallians, now that the tank was beginning to turn away from the cliff.

The pair could hear the sounds of battle emerging once again as Squad 7 began harassing the tank with lancers hidden in the ruins, and the Imperial soldiers came into contact with the Gallians by the temple.

"Come on. Let's see if we can't get this door open." Christian gestured towards a metal door a few feet away, leading off the platform and inside a structure at the back of the tank. He struggled trying to open it, pulling and pushing with equal force, but it would not budge and had no visible openings, except for a small slit around eye-level. "Bah… It must be barred from the inside… Looks pretty sturdy, too, so I doubt we'll be able to force it open."

"There must be a venting system or an air filter around here, somewhere..." Claudia suggested, figuring the Imperials would have to keep the air circulating or otherwise suffer asphyxiation or be cooked alive by the engines' accumulating heat.

Christian took a quick look around the platform, but could see nothing resembling any sort of circulation system. It was almost as if the tank was completely solid, not hollow. "Maybe there's something on the other side. Think you could take a look?"

"Sure, but I'll need some help getting over this thing," Claudia nodded and gestured at the thick, metal crest sticking out at the top of the tank, connecting with the main cannon in front and the structure at the back. It was about one and a half her size around the middle point, with a slight downward slope on both ends.

Christian offered his hands as footing and boosted her to the top of the crest. Once there, Claudia jumped down on an identical platform on the other side.

"See anything!"

"… No! Nothing!" Just then, there was a loud noise as a massive piece of ruin came toppling down, right in the tank's path. The tank slowly drew to a halt, stopping a few meters away from the mostly solid wall. A couple of small explosions followed as some of the Squad 7 lancers managed to take out the machine guns on the left side.

Suddenly, the tank's main cannon moved, aiming at the wall in front of it, and, with a deafening boom, blew it apart like a pile of leaves, blasting rubble in all directions.

Christian was surprised to see something pop out of a hatch just few feet in front of him, quickly realizing it was some kind of radiator. He immediately reached for a grenade, but found nothing but thin air, having used his last up on the cliff.

"Claudia! Did a radiator pop out on your side as well!"

"Yes!" Claudia responded, grenade already in hand. She quickly tossed it inside and distanced herself from the blast zone. Within moments the tank shook as the radiator violently exploded, but the remaining radiator withdrew back inside.

"Christian!" Christian heard Hannes' voice coming from behind him. "What's the situation?"

"We've managed to take out one radiator, but I was unable to take out the other one, and now it's back inside."

"So there's still two remaining?"

"Two? There's one more?"

"Yeah, at the back by the rear-cannon, but we need to hurry!" Hannes grew serious.

"Why? What's happening?"

"There's something major going down east of the temple. Squads 1 and 3 are getting massacred by some woman! Chances are she'll be heading here soon!"

"Shit," Christian started feeling uneasy. "Ok, quick, help me up!"

Hannes did as instructed, helping Christian on top of the crest.

"Tell the lieutenant to keep obstructing the tank; try to make it fire the cannon again!" Christian continued from atop the crest then turned to Claudia, while Hannes got on the radio, and pulled her up. "You've still got grenades, right?"

"A few, yeah." Claudia reached into her pack, pulled out a couple of grenades and handed them to Christian. She glanced at his injured leg and asked how it was holding up.

"As long as we're not in any immediate danger, I'll be fine," Christian waved off her concerns, claiming the sedatives were wearing off but still working. He didn't want to use up any more of the ragnaid unless it was absolutely necessary.

Another ruin soon came toppling down, blocking the tank's progress once more. The tank still had some way to go before reaching it, but there was no room to maneuver around it, so eventually it would have to blast its way through like before.

"We need to wrap this up, guys! Just heard from the radio; 1 and 3 are pulling out with heavy losses and Imperial reinforcements will most likely be heading this way!"

"Unless you can wedge open the radiators, I'm afraid you'll have to wait a bit," Christian called back while he and Claudia made their way towards the rear. "Just be ready when the time comes! We'll finish this in one go!"

Sure enough, the tank again drew to a halt before reaching the obstruction then blew it apart with a single shot from its main cannon.

"NOW!" Hannes and Claudia immediately armed their readied grenades and tossed them into the radiator on Christian's command. The tank shook even more violently as the explosives went off at the same time, so much that Claudia nearly fell off, but Christian managed to help her regain balance.

The tank was now seriously damaged, but still managed to keep going.

"Dammit, this thing just won't go down, will it?" Christian scratched his head in frustration. "Looks like we may have to get inside anyway…"

"Not necessarily," Claudia interjected. "The radiators were pretty close to the armor plating, so the explosions may have weakened those sections enough for a lancaar round to penetrate it."

"Guess it's worth a shot… Hannes! Get on the radio and tell them to focus fire on the plating below the radiators!"

"Roger!"

"That might not be enough, though." Christian looked back at Claudia. It would most likely still take a lot more to bring down the metal beast, and they were running out of time. He could see the Imperial reinforcements approaching on the horizon, led by what looked like a person bathed in blue flame.

Christian's mind almost instantly wandered back to all the books he had read on the Valkyrur of old, but they all said the race was long extinct, so how could the Empire possibly possess such an individual?

"In any case, we should still try to get inside. We need to take this thing out before their reinforcements arrive."

"We might be able to get in through the radiator hatches. We may have to wedge them back open, but they should be fairly damaged so it probably won't need much force."

The two went back down to the platform where Hannes was standing. Claudia was able to jump off, no problem, but Christian had to climb down, as the pain in his leg was now seriously progressing. The landing would've felt like a two story jump, if not worse.

"Help me get this open." Christian waved Hannes over to the hatch. Though it was indeed damaged, it took a lot of effort. The two struggled for a moment before asking Claudia to wedge her spade underneath it. Claudia managed to force it open just enough so they could get a better grip, and together the three eventually succeeded.

"Whoa. Must be pretty hot down there…" Claudia jumped back a bit as hot air rushed out the hatch, much like when opening a heated oven. "You sure it's safe to go down there? I mean, we did toss a grenade in there, not to mention the heat generated by the radiator itself before, y'know, _ka-boom_."

"Well, now that most of the air is out, it should be safe enough." Christian took a moment to check the temperature by sticking his hand down the hatch. "The walls seem a bit hot, though, so you might want to avoid touching them with your bare skin or for prolonged periods of time."

"I'll go first," Hannes declared and prepared to jump in. "I'll see if there's an actual way in from there. If not, you'll have to pull me back up… but, hopefully, the blast will have created an opening in any obstacles present."

Hannes waited for the other two to express their approval then took a deep breath before going down. The interior was uncomfortably warm, almost suffocating, but not much different from a sauna. Had he been wearing nothing but a pair of trunks, instead of the full military gear, Hannes might actually have found it relaxing.

The radiator immediately opened up into a small maintenance area through a blast hole. Hannes took a quick look around, aiming his gun into every corner, just in case. The area was a mess, with various pieces from the radiator scattered about and the walls dented by some of the heavier fragments, but no Imperials in sight, except for a few bodies that got caught in the blast.

A sudden explosion, followed by minor vibrations, startled him for a moment.

"The squad's started the counteroffensive!" Christian's voice sounded from outside. "How's it looking down there?"

"Looks like we're good! There's a door here that should lead out into a main corridor!"

"Ok, we're coming down." The two quickly joined Hannes inside. Before heading out the door, Claudia made sure both her comrades were properly stocked with grenades and ammunition.

Christian slowly opened the door just enough to peek outside. A few Imperials were walking through the corridor, heading to the front of the tank. Christian risked a better view by sticking his head out the doorway as they passed but there was little else to be seen, except for a door at the front of the corridor and a ladder at the back of it.

"Looks like the area's mostly empty… They could be preparing for evacuation," Christian said in a half-whisper and reached for a grenade. "I'll bet the door at the front leads to the command center, so that's where we're headed. Be ready on my signal."

Hannes and Claudia nodded and Christian waited for the enemy soldiers to reach the door. When one of them was about to open, he armed the grenade and tossed it down the corridor so that it landed by the Imperial's feet.

"Go!" Christian bolted out into the corridor with Hannes following close behind, guns ready. The explosion killed most of the Imperials by the doors, with only one managing to escape largely unscathed but was quickly mowed down by machine gun fire. The door was blown half-open, and some of the enemies inside could be seen scrambling for cover.

"Shoot everything that moves," Christian ordered Hannes as they reached the door, hugging the wall on each side. "Claudia, watch our backs!"

The ensuing firefight proved challenging. The Gallians only had one, tight opening with little to no time to move out of cover for a proper aim, forcing them to stick mainly with potshots, while the Imperials had the numeral advantage and some cover, enabling them to keep up a relatively steady salvo. Christian could hear a commander shouting orders from within, pressing his soldiers to drive back the Gallians and secure an exit but with no avail. But just as the Gallians began making progress, Hannes' radio crackled with an urgent message.

"_Everyone, fall back! You're no match for that woman!" _Welkin ordered. _"Focus on the tank if you can, but stay away from her!"_

Christian and the others had little time to react as the message was almost immediately followed by an explosion in the hallway. A lancaar round had managed to penetrate the tank's armor plating, leaving a wide hole in its left side.

"Shit! Claudia, you okay?" Christian called. The hole was worryingly close to her location.

"Y-yes… *cough*… I'm okay!" Claudia responded, trying to clear the smoke out of her face. Curious, she risked a look out the hole, only to have her fears confirmed. "Guys, we need to get out of here!"

"Why? What's wrong?" Hannes and Christian returned to her almost immediately, having lost what little foothold they'd had because of their surprise from the explosion.

"That woman. She's heading right towards us!" Claudia gestured outside, where the woman, covered in blue flames and wielding a lance and shield, was rapidly getting closer. A large force was at her back as well.

Christian hesitated for a moment, intimidated by the approaching threat, but quickly snapped out of it by the sound of Imperials in the hallway.

"I guess we're out of options," Christian reached for the last of his ragnaid and applied it to his leg. "Go! I'll be out in a minute!"

Hannes and Claudia nodded and headed out the hole. It was still a fair drop to the ground, so Hannes swung onto the still-intact ladder to his left, then helped Claudia do the same before sliding down safely.

"Come on!" Hannes gestured and headed to the front of the tank, towards the retreating Gallians, but was stopped in his tracks almost immediately by a strange, blue energy blast that landed mere inches in front of him. He turned to see the strange woman pointing her lance at him, building up another shot. Without thinking, Hannes fired a few rounds at her, only to see them bounce off her shield, which she somehow managed to raise faster than the bullets could reach her.

"Get back! Go around it!" Hannes called to Claudia and headed for the tank's rear as the woman resumed charging. Just as the shot went off, he grabbed Claudia's uniform and pulled her behind the tank, barely evading the attack.

"Come on. Let's get out of here," Hannes said once his heart rate started returning to normal. "Stick close to the tank to avoid the guns."

"What about Christian?"

"I'm sure he'll be fine. He's proven himself to be rather resourceful so far." Hannes reassured her as he made sure to keep up with the tank's pace. "Besides, we'd only get ourselves killed getting in the way of that thing. That… witch."

Claudia reluctantly accepted Hannes' reasoning, simple as it was. She felt like they were abandoning him, something she had great difficulty justifying, but seeing the woman's power left her little choice and all she could do was hope Christian would indeed manage to find a safe way out. Little did she know her worries were largely unfounded.

Christian hadn't really intended to leave with them in the first place. He absolutely had to have the tank destroyed, so much so that he was throwing every principle of his, regarding certain-death situations, out the window. His plan was essentially a gamble, but one he felt compelled to make.

As soon as Claudia and Hannes were out, and Christian had finished applying the ragnaid, he headed in the opposite direction, back to the hallway. Taking a deep breath, he waited for the Imperials to come closer. Once they were close enough, he pulled out a grenade, jumped out into the hallway and rammed into the first Imperial so that he fell backwards on his comrades, causing some confusion. He then tossed the armed grenade into their midst before hightailing it to the end of the corridor and up the ladder.

Claudia jumped when a sudden explosion resonated from inside the tank. She couldn't help but grow increasingly worried as the situation worsened, with Imperial troops now moving around the tank, trying to trap them on the other side, and still no sign of Christian or the rest of the squad. With the threat of the machine guns looming overhead, she and Hannes had no choice but to hold out in the open, with Imperials regularly emerging from behind the tank's front and rear.

"_Hannes, Claudia! Get ready to run for cover," _a voice emerged from Hannes' radio. _"Ready? … GO!"_

Without a second thought, the two immediately bolted for the closest ruins as a barrage of lancaar rounds began pummeling the tank's side and gunfire pinned down the advancing Imperials.

"You two alright?" Largo emerged from cover once the pair arrived safe and sound. Hannes confirmed that they were both fine. "Where's the kid? Wasn't he with you?"

"He's still inside."

"What! Is he crazy?" Largo seemed unsure whether he should be worried, angry or impressed but eventually settled on an odd mixture of all three, expressed with an odd chuckle. "He gets out of there alive, he'll be very, _very_ dead… C'mon. What's left of 1 and 3 will be here soon, so we'll be startin' the counter-attack any minute, now."

In the meantime, Christian had managed to locate the rear cannon's control room, along with its ammunition supply. He took a quick look around and located a maintenance hatch leading outside, on top of the gun's chassis. _"This should provide a decent escape route."_

With that in mind, he made some quick preparations to make sure he'd be able to make it outside in time before the explosion. He could hear the Imperials beginning to try and force their way through the door, which he'd barred from the inside, but it would only be a matter of time before they got in.

With the final preparations in place, he headed up the hatch and outside. Once there, he pulled out the last of his grenades and took a deep breath. _"Here goes nothing…"_ he thought, and armed the grenade before dropping it down the open hatch, then took off like a wildfire in the opposite direction, towards the closest way down.

The Imperials that finally came bursting through the door were greeted with a bone-chilling sight as the grenade landed near a toppled oil canister, with a trail of oil leading to the exposed shells.

Christian was rapidly approaching the ladder on the tank's right side when the grenade went off, with the subsequent explosion of the ignited ammunition causing the entire metal body to shake violently and setting off a chain reaction as the various machinery began overheating.

A particularly violent explosion caught him off guard as he was making his way down. Although the fall felt like an eternity, he was still having trouble grasping the situation when the ground hit, and soon after, everything went dark.


End file.
